01/22/08 - Transfusion V

I'm posting this comment before my fifth transfusion. Late this morning, my oncologist's assistant got blood count results from yesterday. My platelets are low (11,000 vs. a normal low of 140,000) so I have to get a transfusion at 4:00 today to raise my platelets. My hemoglobin has also dipped to 10.3, so I will also receive a shot of Aranesp to boost my red blood cells.


A unit of platelets.
I will try to post the results of the hospital visit tonight. I expect it to go routinely...

It's 7:30PM and we just got back from Moffitt. The transfusion and injection went without a hitch, although there was a mosquito in Laura's car...

01/22/08 - Brain Tumor Conference

Friday and Saturday (January 18th and 19th) I went to a Brain Tumor Conference in Tampa. It was sponsored by Moffitt (the hospital I went to) and the Florida Brain Tumor Association. It had a quite a few of informational sessions presented by doctors, and it was attended by patients from across the country. In total I would guess there were about 100 people there. There were also same tables set up outside of the sessions that had more information about Brain Tumors and related services.

My opinions of the conference.

• It was very informative. The "sessions" were very good, as well as the information available from related organizations.
• The first day was initially depressing to me, I guess because one of my coping mechanisms was to try not to think about my diagnosis. Luckily, it got better.
  
• Not that I hadn't been vigilant before, but I need to learn more about Brain Tumors...
• It was very nice to talk to other patients.
• There are MANY types of brain tumors. Mine (medulloblastoma) is very rare, and there was no one to share experiences with. For that same reason, a lot of the information did not apply directly to me.

Ultimately, the conference was very good. I was able to meet a lot of nice people, and I also learned a lot. Now I have more items to add to my task list...