On Break from Rev

Today's CBC showed Doug's absolute neutrophil count is up a little: 1.4 - better than last week's 1.2 (or 1200, depending on what units the lab uses). While this is a slight improvement, the oncologist wants Doug to stop the Revlimid for one week, and repeat the blood test then. I really don't like this on again, off again stuff. But we will comply.

We will still leave for Nebraska this Friday; we can have the blood test done there. I am so thankful that Doug feels good.

Love to all.

ANC falling

Doug had his blood draw yesterday. His ANC fell from two weeks ago. It was 2.1; now is 1.2 (or 1,200). The oncologist is changing Doug from 5 mg. Revlimid every day to 5 mg. every other day. He will get a CBC every week for a while. I think this is a good strategy. We want to keep him on Revlimid - it has been a good drug for Doug. He can tolerate it with minimal side effects (except for the white count), and it is keeping him in remission.

Although the ANC is low, it is not yet dangerously low, as far as susceptibility to infections. Anything below 500 is considered neutropenic, and precautions would need to be taken. We want to avoid that.

Meanwhile Doug feels good. Our lifestyle has not been altered; we are having friends over for dinner Saturday.

Love to all.

^“The faithful love of the LORD never ends!
His mercies never cease.
 Great is his faithfulness;
his mercies begin afresh each morning.”   Lamentations 3:22-23 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) is a measure of the number of neutrophil granulocytes^[1] (also known as polymorphonuclear cells, PMN's, polys, granulocytes, segmented neutrophils or segs) present in the blood. Neutrophils are a type of white blood cell that fights against infection.

The ANC is calculated from measurements of the total number of white blood cells (WBC), usually based on the combined percentage of mature neutrophils (sometimes called "segs," or segmented cells) and bands, which are immature neutrophils.

A normal ANC is above 1,500 cells per microliter. An ANC less than 500 cells/µL is defined as neutropenia and significantly increases the risk of infection. Neutropenia is the condition of a low ANC, and the most common condition where an ANC would be measured is in the setting of chemotherapy for cancer.

Doing well, Walking trails

Doug had his medical oncology appointment Wed. Everything looks good. He will continue to have a CBC every two weeks to check the white count, but so far the ANC is holding at 2.1. Good enough. Zometa will continue every three months. Revlimid 5 mg. continues daily. He doesn't have to see the oncologist until January, unless something happens.

My sister is gone back to TN. While she was here she took a photo of Doug and me that turned out   pretty good, so here it is. Doesn't he look great?

We went on a hike (more walk actually) today - we walked along a short part of the Colorado Trail. It was a beautiful day to be outside in nature. We truly appreciate Doug being able to walk without pain. Praise the Lord!
The trail goes alongside Cottonwood Creek - here is a photo we took from the trail. This was only a 15 minute drive from our house. We are so blessed to live in this gorgeous part of the country.

We haven't gone to Nebraska yet; Doug did not have permission to do any highway driving while his eye was healing from the surgery. Turns out he had developed a 'leak' in the eye and fluid was draining out a lot faster than it was supposed to! Now it is healing well and we will make the trip first part of Nov.

Love to all.

White counts up - resuming maintenance chemo

I'm behind on updating the blog. My sister is here on a visit from Tennessee, so we have been busy doing fun things.

Doug's latest blood test brought good news. His ANC is 2.1 and his white count is 3.3. Still a bit low, but good enough to resume the Revlimid. Yeah! We don't have the 5 mg. Revlimid yet, so for now Doug is taking 10 mg. every other day. Next week we should have the 5 mg. capsules.

Doug's eye is healing slowly, but it is healing. The glaucoma had raised his eye pressure to 23; a week after the surgery, the pressure was 1. That's too low. The surgeon said it should normalize to about 10 soon.

And the MM bloodwork shows he is still in remission! He is feeling pretty good. Saturday we leave for a trip back to Nebraska to check on Doug's mom, who is 99.

We have much to be thankful for.

Love to all.