Post #77: Chemo treatment postponed

Hello Everyone,

Anita was supposed to undergo her last chemo treatment yesterday, Oct. 3. However, they refused to administer it to her in that her latest blood test (taken Sept. 25) came back with white and red blood cell counts (plus apparently some other readings) that were too low for them to permit her to proceed with the treatment. She had a follow-up blood test done yesterday and her chemo treatment was rescheduled to tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. The blood test results should be available before tomorrow's appointment. If her blood readings have not improved sufficiently, they will postpone the treatment once again.

Actually, these blood readings are not too surprising in that it is a frequent occurence with patients undergoing chemotherapy. Anita has been fortunate in that she made it through 5 of 6 chemo and all 4 Rituxan treatments with very good blood test results. Anyhow, these low readings certainly help explain why she has been feeling so tired recently.

Unfortunately, there has also been a worrisome new development. She has discovered a "growth" at the base of her neck on the right side above the shoulder blade that "has a pulse." We are not certain of the significance of this development and Anita will be consulting her oncologist about it.

Assuming that she has her chemo treatment tomorrow, then in about two weeks she will have a contrast cat scan. Following that she will meet with her oncologist on Oct. 30th. She will only meet with him if she has all testing and scan results in hand. And Anita has stated that if during their consultation following the cat scan he continues with this "new attitude" of his, that she will change oncologists.

I will update tomorrow as soon as I learn whether the chemo treatment went forward or not.

Melissa