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Holding steady at zero

Every morning since I got the picc line taken out I've had a blood draw. I started bracing myself for that 5am wake up call when I would see the phlebotomist walk in and I would know who'd be poking me that day. This week I've been lucky to get Inna, a Polish woman who reminds me of a fairy with golden curls and delicate fingers. She pops into my room and wraps a tourniquet around my left arm, feeling for the vein. "Oyoyoyoyoyoyoyoyyy!" she says every time, look at the accumulating bruises. Then, "this is going to hurt, I'm so sorry." And she seems truly sorry to have to do it. But she pops the needle in, and it doesn't hurt. And a few seconds later, it's over. And every morning she leaves me a whole roll of Coban, in case I want to wrap the dressing tighter. Now I have a stack of Coban rolls next to my bed.

The results from the CBC come back an hour or so later, and I'm always eager to hear the news. But lately it's been pretty much the same every day. I have no blood. Ok, I have blood, but my counts are still very low. I think white blood cells are supposed to be up around 4.4, and mine are sitting at 0.7. My hemoglobin is still below 8. My platelets are dropping again, maybe since they were artificially pumped up with the transfusions.

I suppose the factory was wiped out in the flood, and it has to be rebuilt before production can start up again. This is all the expected result of the chemo, so I should just be patient and wait for my body to do its thing.

What do you hate waiting for your body to do?

Linda's homemade pumpkin pie. Mmmm.
Also, I think I'm on my third pie.

Comments

  1. Hm. I hate waiting for my body to fall asleep sometimes. And sometimes I hate waiting for it to wake up.

    I like the sound of this Ima lady.

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  2. I agree with everything Erin said.. and that pie looks amazing!

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