Platelets

I went into the beginning of last week feeling slightly better than I did all of last week. My Herceptin treatment went as usual - no big deal. Then we received my blood work results. I get blood work done almost every visit to see how chemotherapy is effecting my body and we have come to expect that my platelets are low and my red blood cells are generally low too. This time my platelet count came back at 68k. Chemotherapy will not be administered if my platelets are below 100k and the normal platelet count is generally considered over 150k. My nurses assured me there was not much that I could do to make my bone marrow work appropriately except for be healthy and be well rested. After the appointment, Joe and I walked to the car and we took the three flights of stairs in the parking garage (I may be a cancer patient but I can still walk to my car is still my mantra). I was extremely winded at the top of the stairs due to my low red blood cell count. This prompted a conversation about running. Joe and I discussed and came to the conclusion that running is not in my best interest right now. Now, I have been struggling with running - low red blood cells leave me unable to move enough oxygen around my body to make it really enjoyable. So, for now, I am going to hang up my running shoes. I am also going to repair the love/hate relationship I have with my bike on short (7 to 10 mile), easy rides. No hills in my life right now! I am tired a lot but as long as I sleep at night and take a nap during the day, I can maneuver through the day really successfully. I felt like I received two really big pieces of bad news in one day - this was disapointing but I kept reminding myself how lucky I was to be where I was and with my husband so that made it much better. The only problem with me having a low platelet count and a verging on too low RBC count is that my doctors will delay my last round of chemotherapy if it stays low. This is not an option to me. My last round is scheduled for August 28. If we delay this, then I start work and have my last round of chemotherapy on the same day or I work a full week and then have chemotherapy. I want this to be over sooner rather than later as well. I honestly don't know how I would handle school and chemo but it would only be a week and I am capable of anything if I put my mind into it. As per my usual OCD/need to have control over every situation, I immediately went home and started researching foods that can help increase blood cells. I was helped with this search by a friend as well. I have been diligently eating lots of fruits and veggies - thank goodness it is summer and I can eat almost exclusively from my garden and the farmers market. The only thing Daci found that crossed the line that I will not try is shark oil - although if they don't go up next week, I may be searching for that! I am visualizing my bone marrow producing more cells every day. I am also giving my bones a pep talk on a daily basis. I desperately want my body to get itself together and get through this. I will say that as of Friday my body feels leaps and bounds better than it had been feeling but this is normal and I can just hope this means my bones are taking in all those beautiful nutrients and helping me out. After my last round and a couple of weeks to allow the drugs to leave my body, I am planning my detox diet - this may include a revisit of my former vegetarian diet! For now, I would encourage positive throughts on platelet renewal.