Good progress!

[Guest guest]

Hey everyone,

I can't believe I've had this for a little over a month now. It's

crazy. The past two weeks or so, my WBC count has been falling more

and more. When I got off of my hydroxyurea (I'm only 15! I can't

spell that!) my count was at 4.something. The next 4 appointments it

kept going lower and lower and lower. Monday it was at 1.4 I think.

So my doctor put me back on Gleevec (he had me on hold until we

stableized my counts). Today my count was at 2.5. So it's going up!

I go the official " ok " to go out in public! My school is on spring

break this week so I'm going to school on Monday. I'm so excited.

The only public place I've been to the past month is the

doctor's/hospital.

I've been having some breakdowns lately though. I guess it's

understandable though. I've been too busy being strong for everyone

that I didn't have time to be weak. I'm a religious girl and I

believe that whenever I shed a tear, God is with me to comfort me.

Even when I'm strong, He's where the strength is coming from. I

would never be able to do this without Him. So basically when I'm

weak, I'm actually strong I guess.

Sorry for my ranting. That actually helped a little bit though.

[Guest guest]

Hi Adrienne,

It sounds like everything is going according to plan. It's very

common for white counts to " tank " at the beginning. It means the

Gleevec is working and on top of that, the Hydrea takes a while to

leave your system so even though you've stopped taking it, it will

still have an effect on your counts for a couple of days or even

weeks. It'll take a little while for healthy new cells to repopulate

your marrow but once they do, you'll see your numbers edge up closer

to normal.

We've all experienced the emotional roller coaster you're going

through. One day, you can be on top of the world and the next you're

full of doubts and fears. It's normal. I'm sure your faith will

give you tremendous strength through this.

You probably had some " cabin fever " going on as well since you were

sort of locked up for a few weeks. Getting back into a normal

routine will help you feel more normal I'm sure.

Take care,

Tracey

>

> Hey everyone,

>

> I can't believe I've had this for a little over a month now. It's

> crazy. The past two weeks or so, my WBC count has been falling more

> and more. When I got off of my hydroxyurea (I'm only 15! I can't

> spell that!) my count was at 4.something. The next 4 appointments

it

> kept going lower and lower and lower. Monday it was at 1.4 I think.

> So my doctor put me back on Gleevec (he had me on hold until we

> stableized my counts). Today my count was at 2.5. So it's going up!

> I go the official " ok " to go out in public! My school is on spring

> break this week so I'm going to school on Monday. I'm so excited.

> The only public place I've been to the past month is the

> doctor's/hospital.

>

> I've been having some breakdowns lately though. I guess it's

> understandable though. I've been too busy being strong for everyone

> that I didn't have time to be weak. I'm a religious girl and I

> believe that whenever I shed a tear, God is with me to comfort me.

> Even when I'm strong, He's where the strength is coming from. I

> would never be able to do this without Him. So basically when I'm

> weak, I'm actually strong I guess.

>

> Sorry for my ranting. That actually helped a little bit though.

>

[Guest guest]

Adrienne,

in Florida here. That same thing happened to me. I am new here as

well, less than two months. My white counts went way low, and I posted here

and was told that was normal and sure enough, have come back up to 6.9 this

past week. In fact, this past week my CBC's were so close to normal that my Dr

said he may cut back my visits very soon to every two weeks. Wow, I never

thought I was going hear that! I have been battling low red and platelets for

weeks. Out of the blue, here comes the good counts. I too, had a lousy

visit three weeks ago. My wbc was still good, but my red had dropped, again.

He

starts talking more transfusions. That day he gave me a shot of Procrate

(spelling?) and things started to improve. I have had three shots, now.

is absolutely correct. Three weeks ago I had my worst visit where he

also states he now hears a heart murmur, where the fun end, is what I am

thinking. I was really down in the dumps and for the first time had the why

bother with all this feeling, briefly that is. But within a day was back to

myself.

Your faith will no doubt carry you through. This is the third really huge

event in my adult - married life that has rocked my world. The previous two

times I just looked at it as a test of my faith. I never - ever wavered, this

time I will not as well.

Take care and great luck getting back to school. I thought I would never be

so happy as to get back to work. Just know your friends will handle you

with kid gloves thinking you are fragile. I keep telling everyone to treat me

like normal.

Chris

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