Liver Enzymes Up, White Blood Cells Down

I had chemo yesterday afternoon and got to attend my cancer support group in its entirty in the morning. It was a really good session, and the women in the group are just wonderful.

My oncologist is off on Tuesday afternoon, and when my bloodwork came back with the enzymes up out of the normal range and the white blood cells down, the nurse had me see the on-call doctor. Also, I sometimes have a spastic colon and it has been kicking up lately. I have had some bone pain in my left thigh which may be from the Araness stimulating the bone marrow, or I may have pulled a muscle lifting some heavy bags on Sunday. My platelets are still above normal.

Anyway, I was cleared to have my Gemzar at a lower rate. I had gone back on my Xeloda on the 18th, but by the end of the week, I had tapered off due to my feet swelling. I spoke to the triage nurse this morning and she got me caught up on what to do next. I need to start back on the Xeloda which I did today - the swelling has gone down in my feet. My white blood cells weren't down enough to require medication. I'm to take some Tylenol or Ibuprofen for the leg pain. I took Ibuprofen, and actually it hurt more after that.

And now for some good news. My tumor marker was down to 1544 last week. It has been up over 2,000 for the last six weeks. It went back up to 1800+ this week, but that is consistent with the liver enzymes being up.

I see Dr. Bergen next Wednesday, and he says he's been in touch with Mayo Clinic so I'm anxious to know what he has to say about that.

I have been feeling better this week. Not so tired. My red blood cells were up this week which I think is the result of the Araness shots. Appetite is still good and weight has stayed remarkably steady - about 145 pounds. When my thigh hurts, it does hurt to walk.

I'm getting an Rx for a numbing cream to put on my port before they poke it each week. The ladies in the support group told me about it. The port is great, but it does feel like someone's sticking a thumb tack in you when they access the port. They said the cream keeps it from hurting when the nurse comes at you like pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey.

The weather has been beautiful the last few days - clear, warm, sunny. The snow didn't stunt the leaf colors very much, nor knock the leaves off the trees.

So I'm just up here enjoying the fall and getting back on those meds!

Thanks as always for all your prayers and support.

Sincerely, Caroline