Cancer By Number

Remember Paint by Number? We're playing Cancer By Number. Today there are two numbers 5700 and 37. It's like Sesame Street. Today's Cancer is brought to you by the letter N and the number 5700. N - for No chemo!

The 5700 is AMAZING!! Let's put it in perspective. This is the beta hCG number - the pregnancy cancer hormone that tells us how much cancer is left. In Round 2, we were diagnosed at 18,000. Jumped to 64,000 before treatment and had to whittle our way down from there. Last week we had a dramatic initial drop from 64,000 to 36,000. HUGE! Dr. Goldstein from Boston even e-mailed me to say how impressed he was by the drop. (I'm such a pleaser, I want to make the oncologist proud. His e-mail felt like a gold star in 3rd grade!)

Today's blood work is even better ... beta hCG = 5700! Woowoo! We are kicking that cancer's ass! Like really kicking it! Take that, bitches!! At this rate, I could be cancer free by Friday. (That's not true, we shouldn't get away from ourselves ... but I'm just sayin' - it's good.) BUT ....

(there's always a but) ... my platelets are at 37. Thirty seven, you say? What the hell does that mean? Again with some context: They don't give you chemo if your platelets are under 90. So 37 is nowhere near 90. Idiots version of medicine (ie: MY version): platelets are a part of your blood that help your blood clot if you bleed. At 37 mine is "critically low" according to the lab. They will not give you chemotherapy at this level.

Kristen at the Cancer Center says they had a woman with a platelet level of 3 and she survived a car crash. So you're not going to die, you just have to be careful. So 37 means no chemo today. No chemo tomorrow.

I was almost disappointed. I was already in the chemo room, I had put the numbing cream on the port (A+ for me), Chris and I were already settled into the barcaloungers. I was mentally prepared for an infusion. In some of the cancer reading I've done, they stress the importance of being able to continue treatment as scheduled. Every time you have to cancel a treatment it's a little bit of a setback. So I felt concerned that the cancer would go "unanswered" for a week. But Chris says with a drop in hCG like that it's clear the poison is doing it's job!

My tummy is still not right. But other than that, I'm feeling okay. So it will be nice to continue to have "good days" while we wait for those platelets to regenerate.

In the meantime, my hair is definitely falling out now. Day 15, right on schedule. I did get my last official cut last night. What do you think?