Today I was happy to have my last round of dosa-dense. As a reminder, dosa-dense refers to an intense infusion. I had four rounds of a cocktail made up of 2 drugs known as AC. These stand for Adriamycin + Cytoxan. It's a strong dose that can come with severe side effects. By God's grace, I was spared from most of those side effects. It was administered every other week for 8 weeks. Along with these drugs, I was given Neulasta which is a patch injection that boosts my white blood cell counts.
In two weeks until I start a new treatment. This time it will be weekly, but it's a lower dose with less side effects. It's called Paclitaxel or Taxol. Because of the last four infusions and continued weekly infusions, I'll be more and more tired each week. My white blood counts should level off to 1.5, but since I won't be taken Neulasta, it won't get higher than that. The normal range for a female is 4 - 10. So I won't be able to fight off infections as well as the average person, hence the need for me to wear a mask - and hopefully be around others who are doing the same.
Thanks to all of you who have been sending cards and gifts to the oncology staff. They have truly loved it. It just so happens on this day, while I was in the midst of treatment, my sister and her wife's package of brownies arrived. It was addressed to the nurses station, where I was sitting. I heard them whispering and getting all excited when they opened the box. They saw that my name was mentioned in the attached card and quickly came over to send their thanks and appreciation. So I'm passing it along. Again, THANK YOU.