I had my long-awaited appointment with Dr. Zelenetz this afternoon. I expected a clean report and I got one – but only sort of…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, my CAT scan from a few days ago revealed no evidence of lymphoma. It also showed that I had no respiratory problems that might be causing my mild but chronic cough. Dr. Zelenetz suggested that I go back on protonix (an acid reflux medication) for two weeks, since it’s possible acid reflux is causing the cough. So I’m going to do that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The real problem continues to be my low white blood cell count. Today it was 1.4, and the key sub-component they look at was only .6. Because the sub-component (“Gr” on the CBC; it has a name I can neither spell or pronounce) was below 1.0, he decided to do a bone marrow biopsy today. I also was given a shot of Neulasta, the white blood cell booster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the fourth one I’ve had, and it doesn’t bother me (they stick a needle into your iliac crest, aspirate out some marrow, and then chip off a tiny piece of bone; sounds a lot worse then it feels) but I’ve been told by various Dr’s and nurses that it does freak some people out. Of course, “bone marrow biopsy” doesn’t have a great ring to it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So it was done and some of the test results will be in on Monday; I will talk to Zelenetz on Tuesday. however other results won’t come in for about three weeks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are several possibilities for why my WBC count hasn’t come back up. The one he seemed to feel was most likely is simply that when I had my stem cell transplant it didn’t take, or “graft” very well. If that turns out to be the case, I have 8 or 9 million stem cells frozen away in a Sloan Kettering fridge, and they can simply give me another transplant and see what happens. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This sounds like a big deal, but it’s really not; you can read about my original transplant here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n