Friends of Geraldine

So I have some good news and some gross news. I will begin with the first. My insurance company has agreed to cover phase 1 of my clinical trial tandem autologous transplant. I know, I know. What the hell is phase 1? The truth is, I have no idea. I am not managing this process, MCV is. They are the experts in getting insurance companies to cover the clinical trials. I know that having a double transplant is cheaper then undergoing an allogenic transplant, so I am assuming that is why they have agreed to cover phase 1. Don’t know how many more phases there are, but I will keep everyone posted.

Now for the gross news. I have to have a blood transfusion. My red blood cell count and my platelets are too low as a result from ICE chemo. My white blood cells are normal because of an injection that I received after chemo (Neulasta), but if they were too low then I would be neutropenic and have to be hospitalized. Chemo affects everyone differently and when I had the other chemo (from Oct 07-March 08 ABVD) my white bloods cells definitely took a hit, but my red blood cells and platelets were okay. Now that I am getting a new cocktail, ICE, my red blood cells and platelets are taking the hit. Your red blood cells deliver oxygen through your blood and your platelets help coagulate your blood when you bleed openly. Having low counts of both of these means that I am very fatigued, get out of breath very easily, and can’t function at a semi normal rate. I have to walk slow. I can’t go up some stairts without laying down right afterwards. You basically feel like anything that you are going to do will make you pass out and God forbid if I accidently get a cut, I could bleed to death. FUN! So, in order to make this right. I will have my first ever blood transfusion tomorrow to increase my counts. The whole thing is suppose to take 5 hours and I am a little freaked out about it. There is something creepy about getting blood put into my veins. My nurse at VA Oncology told me that I need to get over it because that will be happening a lot when I undergo transplant. I swear this just gets better and better. In the meantime, I will contiue to be a little grossed out. This vampire will be taking pictures tomorrow to capture this bloody experience. Perfect timing for Halloween!