Day +11

My Blood Count Today:
Red Blood Count (RBC) 100 (Normal 130-180)
Platelet 26 (Normal 150-50)
White Blood Count (WBC) =0.1 (Normal 4 - 11)

I have developed sore throat since early morning today, otherwise I am well. Because of this, I have to take soft food. The white blood count remains to be 0.1 and the platelet increased from 18 to 26, the best increment after transfusion :-)

The doctor cancelled the last dose of Methotrexate that suppose to be given by today, due to the throat pain and mouth ulcers.

Every morning, the nurse will take my weight. I weighted 63.4kg this morning, a 3.4kg increment compared to when I was admitted. You would be suprised that my weight is not dropping but increasing. It is definately not due to the luxurious life in this VIP room where I have eaten too much delicious meals. It is because there are too much water left in the body - a situation which also called fluid retention. Apart from the weight comparison, the doctor will look at the fluid input-output (IO) balance. It is simply the total fluild input minus the total fluid output. If there is too much positive balance, then fluid rentention occurs. With this IO balance calculation, I have to record all the fuild intake and all the fuild that I pass out (urine volume). It might seems too tedious for you to do this, but it is perfectly alright for me to do this as I have a lot of spare time in this small room. The only problem is my "short-term memory loss" problem, where I forgot the volume of urine that I passed before I got a chance to record it down after coming out from the toilet. The third approach to judge if one has fluid rentention is to examine the body especially the face, stomarch and the limbs to see if they swell. If they swell then fluid rention occurs. Please be warned that numerous other problems might cause the above conditions, consult a medical doctor if you counter any of the symptoms above is my best advice.

I amost get all the symptoms everyday. In order to discharge the excess fuild in my body, the doctor always administers a drug called Lasix (Furosemide) through injection, luckily not through a needle poking into my body, but through one of the catherters. Then the next one hour or more, I will be busy going to toilet and doing recording.

If you went to a clinic and the doctor decided he needs to administer this drug to you, never insist that you need an injection instead of taking an oral form of the drug. While many peope are afraid of injection, one of my friends will always force doctor to give him injection. I believe he has not so much confident on oral medicine or he is a hot tempered guy who want instant result. If you get an Lasix injection and try to drive home immediately, you would most likely to have a "game-over" in your car as the injection works incredibly fast, normally within 10 to 15 minutes.

That's all for today and see you next post :-)