Penultimate Day

This morning, I awaited my blood test results with particular interest.  My  ANC of 26 from yesterday didn't look very promising.  All morning, I huddled over my laptop looking for the results.  The first result to come around 9:30 was the WBC, which jumped considerably from 0.2 to 1.13.  That was encouraging, but I still needed big improvements in the neutrophis% and the bands% to complete the formula in the last post. It turned into somewhat of an agonizing wait, since the rest of the results were listed as pending for hour after hour.  Finally at about 1:15, I checked the Patient Gateway, and the results were finally posted.  The neutrophils% was 64% and the bands% was 6%.  Plugging those into the magic formula computed an ANC of 791, way above the 500 minimum!  That means I'm going home tomorrow, at least two days early.  I am psyched!

It's interesting that when we first got this room, my nurse, Rebecca, said this has been a lucky room.  The last 3 or 4 patients in this room all went home 2 days earlier than planned!  There must be some kind of Voodoo going on here.  On the other hand, she said that one of the other rooms in this pod has quite the opposite history, and she thinks some kind of exorcism might be needed for that one.  I'm sure glad I got this room instead.

Unfortunately, my hematocrit count, which was hovering up and down near the blood-transfusion threshold of 24, finally decided to come in at exactly 24 today, so I had to get a pint of blood.  Rats.  I was hoping to avoid that, but most transplant patients need at least one transfusion of platelets and blood.

It would be too easy to say that my hemorrhoids are a pain in the ass, so I won't.  Other than that, I'm feeling really good today.  I feel like I have more energy and no other aches or pains.  I'm trying to eat a little more, but most of the food choices still don't appeal to me.  I hope that improves when I get home.  On the bright side, I ordered dinner tonight of a hotdog on a butter-toasted bun with ketchup and relish, fritos, a raisin cookie and a root beer., and I ate it all.  I also downed a yogurt an hour earlier.

My weight has really gone down while I've been here.  The most dramatic example of that came today after my shower, when the nurse went into the bathroom and found my wedding ring on the shower floor!  I already lost my MIT class ring that way, so I had better get this re-sized soon.  In the mean time, I'm wearing it on my middle finger, which is just big enough to hold it.

Tomorrow at this time, I'll be home.  I can't wait!

By the way, I found the penny!