BLOOD WORK 2 DAYS IN A ROW

It was back to the doctor again today for more blood work to see if the downward spiral had stopped.  Dave's white blood cell count was up a fraction, as were the neutrophils.  They are still too low, but the slight upward tick was good.  Dave is to skip his Wednesday Intron injection (and skipped last night's) and he will begin again Friday with a lower dose (15 units instead of 20).  He will have his blood checked again on Monday.

The visit took almost 2 hours from start to finish, and most of the time was spent waiting, but we did see Dr. S and not just the nurse practitioner.  Dr. S. is always very thorough and wanted to know how Dave was feeling, he didn't want to make adjustments just on the blood work numbers.  Dave does not like feeling so weak, and that added to the decision to skip tomorrow's injection.  We'll have to see how a regular routine of a lower dosage works for him.

After leaving the hospital, we stopped to get a tree!  Fortunately, the young man working the tree tent put it on the Jeep and tied it on for us.  On the way home we stopped at Chicken and Waffles for fortification.  When we got home, Dave was able to get the tree off the Jeep and into a bucket of water in the back yard, but then had to go lie down.  This rubbery-muscle feeling is not fun!

Dr. S. feels Dave's arm is progressing well, and by that I mean he thinks the blood clot is dissolving.  Dave has less than 2 weeks left getting the 2 shots per day of heparin, and hopefully will not have to continue any more blood thinner.  He nicked himself shaving the other day, and had to wait forever for a clot to form.  Dr. S. suggested he use an electric razor, but Dave is not interested in that change.  I'm just glad he didn't participate in No Shave November.

Dave, two years ago, summiting Mt. Katahdin, and with a full beard.