Info on Chemo and 1st Marrow Drive

Round 4 was completed without a hitch! I think a lot of this has to do with the fact that my oncologist reduced my chemo dosage by 25% for Round 4. The chemo not only kills off my cancer cells, but also destroys my healthy blood cells (white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets). Unfortunately, you can't pick and choose.

For most people receiving chemo, they will start to see their blood cell counts go up in a week or two after chemo treatment. However, my recovery has been a bit unusual. During Round 1, 2 & 3, the chemo was taking an extra heavy toll on my body. My white blood cell counts were unusually low for an extended period of time - like almost 4 weeks after each round. When your white blood cells are low (aka "neutropenic") you are extremely susceptible to getting sick. Unfortunately, this was what lead to a couple of nasty infections and fevers of 104 degrees over the last couple of months. My immune system could not fight off any illness.

Oncologists have a very difficult job. They have to give you enough chemo (poison) to kill off your cancer cells, but not too much to where your immune system is completely destroyed. This is why chemotherapy is an extremely dangerous balancing act. You can die from something as little as a cold when your immune system is down.

For Round 4, my oncologist reduced my dosage by 25% because we realized I am proned to getting infections. So far, my white blood cells aren't too low which means my immune system is still able to protect me. Thankfully, I was able to attend the 1st Project Michelle Bone Marrow Drive at the Fremont Thai Temple. We got 41 people registered!!! Carol said that AADP has been to the Thai temple in the past and only got 4-5 people registered. My personal goal was 30 people, so I am very pleased. We have 4 more drives this upcoming weekend. Please check out the calendar for more information!!!