Blood Work Only No Onc Visit

Thursday, June 3, 2010

I just came back from my appointment for blood work at the clinic. The nurse asked to look at my PICC infection site on my upper left arm. She said it looked quite good but said we still need to see major redness improvements over the next couple of days.

The infection site hasn’t changed much in size but the redness is down dramatically and there is no soreness. The nurse reminded me at least a couple of times to watch the area carefully for any signs of swelling, soreness, increased redness, oozing and watch my temperature. If I experience any increase of these, I’m to call the clinic immediately,

Today’s tests showed my neutrophils (white blood cells) are down this week. Waaat? I was a bit shocked because my blood work has always been good since I started getting chemo back in 2008. No one is guessing why it’s down either. I asked her to check what the count was last week … she said 2.2 and today it is 1.2 … long story short … no chemo treatment tomorrow. Shoot!

Then I headed over to Daycare to have my PICC line redressed. The nurse there said the skin around the site looked good but noted there was still a bit of redness. She then stressed the importance of watching for any signs of worsening. Check your temperature every day, she said. 

Well I’m disappointed to say the least. I’ve only had one chemo infusion in the last month and that worries me.

Here is a real short video of neutrophils in action ...



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