Day +82

My Blood Count Today:
Red Blood Count (RBC) = 108(Normal 130-180)
Platelet = 67(Normal 150-450)
White Blood Count (WBC) = 2.7(Normal 4 - 11)
Absolute Neutrophil Count (ANC) = 1.593 (Normal 1.5 - 8.0)
Potassium = 4.3(Normal 3.5 - 5.2)
Magnesium = 0.59(Normal 0.65 - 1.05)

I am fine today. All blood count reading drops compared to last week result. One of the reading concern us most is the platelet because it has been dropping quite abnormally. Doctor said she does not know the reason for now. The PBF last week shows that the blood was free from blast (cancer cell).

As part of the transplant program, the patient has to do a bone marrow aspiration (BMA) on day +84. The nurse arranged me to do a BMA on this Thursday, which is day +85. Hopefully the BMA result will provide doctor some clues on why the platelet is dropping, and I also hope that the result would be fine.

The transplant program lasted until +84 days, so the nurse discharged me from the transplant program. I have to do the next follow-up through the day care clinic, where I will be attended by day care nurses rather than BMT nurses. However, the place and time to see the doctor are still the same. I might not enjoy priority in seeing doctor and taking x-ray anymore. Patients paid a lump sum which covers the expenses throughout the transplant program. After the discharge, patients have to pay for follow-up expenses such as blood test and medication. Fortunately, my expenses are covered by government because my wife is a government staff.

I met an AML patient in the ward today. I enquired about his life style before the disease. He said he smoked but didn’t drink alcohol much. He tried very hard to stop smoking but always failed. I asked him what happened after he was diagnosed with AML. He said he completely stopped smoking after the chemotherapy without any struggle. "Chemotherapy is so effective in curing smoking addiction, it washes away all smoking addictive compounds from my body." he said :-)

See you next post :-)