Today marks 3 weeks since I've needed any type of transfusion! My white count has settled in the mid 2s and I'm probably done getting neulasta shots. Hopefully I will come up closer to 4.0 (the bottom of the normal range) soon, but 2 is good for now and still allows me to eat what I want and walk around without a mask, so phew. My hematocrit has been floating between 26 and 30. I'm getting epogen shots to stimulate that growth, but the doctors think the improvement is largely natural. I can definitely feel the difference between a hematocrit of 22 and a hematocrit of 29 when I'm walking up and down 4 flights of stairs to my apartment, so I'm happy about the improvement. My platelets have been sticking at 21 for the last two weeks. 20 is tranfusion level so 21 isn't great, but it keeps me from having an IV stick so I can't complain. We just started the nplate to stimulate those cells last week so hopefully that kicks in soon. I don't think I'm the bruised mess that I once was, so yay!
I'm down to about once a week at the doctor and supposedly once every other week isn't too far away. The goal was for me to be transfusion independent at 90 days post treatment (which is average response time) and I am now at 90 days and haven't needed a transfusion in 3 weeks (knock on wood please!) so I'm thrilled with my progress. Not out of the woods and there still many hurdles to jump over, but good enough to celebrate for now!
If you can run the Boston Marathon, you'll jump over all these hurdles for sure. We'll always be here cheering you on. You're the best!
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