BEP Round 1 Day 17

First let me say that I have been taking Neupogen NOT Neulasta.  I thought they were the same thing, but most people seemed to say the latter so I had been sticking with that latter name.  However they are different medications.  Neupogen is a daily shot that last for a short time and allows more fine control over both the pain (ie it stops when you stop taking it quicker) and the boost to your white cell count (if it has recovered today you could stop sooner).  Neulasta is apparently a shot you take that works over the course of many days and has more serious side effects.  At least that's how my Dr described it to me.

3:30pm O:3 P:2 N:0 T:5

So saw my Dr today and my white cell count IS coming up, slowly I was at 2600 up from 1000 a couple of days go.. normal I think is like 5000->8000 ish so I am still low.  Which means I still have more shots to take.  I didn't get the number but my baby white blood cell count is still pretty low so i am going to have to take two more shots today and tomorrow to help boost it up before next weeks "hell week".  Then we are going to add a 3 day doze of Neupogen for every Bleo day to help try and keep my cell counts up for the next several rounds.  I am wiped out today, I got back from the doctor and i was probably at a T:7-8 and I crashed for several hours.  I am not sure if that's just overall body fatigue or if its Neupogen related or what but after my nap I feel a bit better but still pretty tired.  Still having bone aches, the ibuprofen helps quite a bit but my Dr wants to keep my daily dosage down to <3g so it limits how much of it I can take hence the pain returning a bit.  He also is going to call in a prescription for Norco which is nice, basically a Vicodin dose with lower acetaminophen so it doesn't impact your liver so much with higher dosages.  That will help take the edge off, he said i can "mix it around" between those two pain killers and find a schedule that works for me pain wise to help keep it under control.  I would of course rather have a P:0 all the time but I dont' think that's possible so I am going to settle for a P:1-2 if I can keep it in that range I will be able to deal with it.  Yesterday there was a point I was up in the 8 range and it was pretty bad.

So that's it for today, neupogen shot today and tomorrow... maintaining some pain killers to keep the pain at bay and preparing for next weeks hell week.  Oh, and my doctor told me I need to start wearing a medical mask when I leave the house until my white blood cell count comes up.  He wasn't happy I didn't have one on today when I saw him, but in my defense I didn't know I was supposed to be wearing one until he said that.

4:15pm O:3 P:2 N:0 T:5
Crud I am running a light fever 99.2, if it gets to 100.5 I have to do all sort of crappy things like go to the ER and call my oncologist etc etc.  So that's probably why I feel so run down etc, I took some acetaminophen hopefully that will bring it down.

5:15pm O:2 P:2 N:0 T:3
Neupogen shot number 3, injected and all done.  My fever is up to 99.4 so I took ANOTHER acetaminophen.. If in the next 30-45 it hasn't started at least settling out or dropping I am probably gonna have to call my Dr.  My tiredness feels a little better but I think the slight fever is draining me a bit.  On a side note this could all still be from the Bleo, technically you could take the acetaminophen dose schedule out for 48 hours past the dose.  We have been just doing 24 hours, and I haven't had any issues but perhaps as we get deeping in the treatment and my body is weaker we should start maintaining the acetaminophen for the full 48 hours.

7:00pm O:1 P:2 N:0 T:1
So I am feeling much better, medicines kicking in and my fever is gone!  It got up to 99.6 at one point, I was getting a bit worried but.. all is well now back in normal range and my tiredness is all but gone which is great.  I debated updating the P to 3, because i am getting some shoulder and leg aching, in addition to the lower back pain.. but they are all similar in their intensity so I guess MORE of them doesn't really mean I am in more pain.. its just more diverse :-P  Honestly with a crappy as my blood counts have been, I NEED this medicine so I just have to grin and bear it and hope it gets me ready for next week.  I am going to change the name from "Hell Week" to "Chemo Extravaganza".  Its more up beat and has a nice fun ring to it.. perception is important right? HAHAHAHA

Btw I ordered one of these, from a link in Dane's blog [www.iamtheuniballer.com]:http://www.jackiefarry.com/cancerhat/

F Cancer indeed! I think, cancer is one of the few things you can openly curse in society and everyone is cool with it :-P