If at first you don't succeed...

You then run up and down seven flights of stairs!

I arrived for my blood check in Detroit yesterday (in between visits to New York) and was feeling confident - almost cocky - about hitting the 50K platelet count necessary to continue on the clinical trial. I mean, I've done the pineapple now three times in a row without fail so why would this time be any different right? Well, I guess that's what happens when you get cocky, you get a platelet count back of 44K, yikes!

Dr. Ramchandran, to my dismay, was really cavalier about the results, ugh. He had no idea of the history I've had with low platelets and how we dealt with it at NYU. So, of course he gave me a blank stare when the first thing I asked him was where the nearest stairwell was! Even after he responded back by saying they're down the hall, he had no idea that I was going to get my blood tested again, today, and was actually amused when I told him about how I've been able to get my plates to jump 5-7K after getting my heart pumping. He was just telling me to come back at the end of the week or whatever... This wasn't an option as being on a clinical trial you have to adhere to the schedule of the cycles and I was determined to keep this going on time...

So, I ran down the hall, found the stairs and proceeded to run up and down over seven flights. By the end, I was totally winded and went into blood draw wheezing like an asthmatic!! The nice lady drew my blood again and after a two hour wait for the results, sure enough the new count came back 52K!! Yesssss ;)

With this great news, I was able to take my SAHA again last night along with a Naproxen to calm down my back pain and enjoyed my first almost full nights sleep in about a week with little back pain.

Next time, I'm going to make sure to do the pineapple and get my blood flowing and hopefully won't have to deal with the stress again...

On another note, I just wanted to request and send out some prayers and good vibes for my friend Lee in L.A. who's dealing with a Glioblastoma brain tumor. Lee and I were diagnosed at the same time and unfortunately, a suspicious growth has turned aggressive and the doctors want to get him on new chemo (along with some he's had before) to try and stop it in it's tracks. I guess he had a major seizure earlier that he's still trying to recover from. I know what these seizures are like as my sister deals with them on occasion as a side effect from her beating brain cancer (Glioma) and subsequent resection of the scar tissue left behind.


The talented Mr. Lee McPherson

So Lee, know that I'm rooting for you and saying prayers and sending good vibes buddy. You can do this man!! If you'd like to leave a positive comment, you can find Lee's blog in my blog list under One Quarter Blind...



Chris