Not Where I Was Planning to Sit

Last week, I had a routine blood draw.

Except it wasn't routine.

My oncologist's team called me pretty quickly afterward and asked me to come back for another sample because my red blood cell (RBC) counts were really low. [There are a few ways we measure RBCs, one is hematocrit, which is the percentage of RBCs in the total blood volume. For an adult woman, normal is approximately 35-45%.]

Mine was 19.8% last Wednesday. The plan: blood transfusion ASAP. 
Which sparked a kaleidoscope of thoughts in my head:

WHAT?!
This is not good.
Lynparza can cause anemia, but it shouldn't be this dramatic.
No wonder I've felt so weak and easily tired lately.
The other option: bleeding. But there's no sign of that.
Other options (like iron and B12) tested normal.
I think Lynparza is working because none of my symptoms are what I'd expect if the cancer was growing.
This will mean stopping Lynparza, at least temporarily. That could be bad or inconsequential, because at this point only God knows whether the drug is effective.
Getting blood is inconvenient.
But it will make me feel a lot better. Which would be pretty awesome.
Stopping Lynparza for awhile is risky, but necessary, and I won't miss the side effects.
Risky. Risky. Risky. But these are the best choices.
And, ultimately, God is sovereign over this - He knew it would happen, He knows why it's happening and what the future holds. And I choose to trust that.

Ugh.

So last Thursday afternoon, instead of working at my desk, I was on the other side of the hospital, sitting in a recliner in the infusion room getting two units of blood. (Thanks in large part to my wonderful co-workers, who made it clear that they would cover for me.)

And that evening, I felt SO MUCH better! Actually, I went to the bathroom part way through the second pint of blood and I wanted to walk around instead of sitting back down.

Then I met with my oncologist to make a plan. I'm stopping the Lynparza until my counts recover, then I'll restart at a lower dose. Until then, blood draws. In the meantime, my doc will talk to the area's ovarian cancer specialist downtown.

Monday, my hematocrit was up to 27.4%. Yay! Today, it's at 26%. Hm. The nurse scheduled me for another blood draw next Friday, but told me to come in sooner if I become symptomatic. Honestly, I'm a little freaked out. I think counts can temporarily dip after a transfusion, but I had the sense that the nurse wasn't expecting that drop. 

So we'll see what happens. I might need another transfusion. I hope to discuss this with my doctor early next week.

Random thought: In the medical field, we're trained to separate ourselves from someone else's blood at all costs. So it's pretty strange to be consenting to have a stranger's blood dripped in my veins. I know it's cleaned and safe, but still weird. And it looks like tomato sauce.

In the midst of all of this, I still managed to stir up some trouble. When I went to see the doctor after the transfusion, her assistant wanted to take my blood pressure. Well, for each unit of blood, they take your vital signs at the beginning, then at 15 minutes, and at the end. It had been 15 min max since the infusion nurse had taken my blood pressure for the 6th time that afternoon. So I asked if the assistant really needed to take it again. "Well, you can REFUSE it if you want to." Oh dear. I explained my situation again and she said, "I'm just doing what I'm told. I'll mark it down that you refused vital signs." I bet she put a "Difficult Patient" stamp on my chart. Seriously.

In other news, my sister and niece are coming tomorrow for most of the week. We are SO excited and I'm looking forward to a fun week!

I would love it if you would pray for my blood counts to recover, and for the RBCs I have to bring sufficient oxygen to my body for me to keep up with my niece! Thank you!

Have a great weekend, my friends.