03/28/08 - Separated at Birth?

In the picture below, there are two photos of me and one photo of a gift that Laura got me this past Easter. Can you tell which is which? The present Laura got me is labeled "BOBO." He is like a chia head. When Bobo grew some grass, Laura and I thought about these pictures of me when I started to go bald from radiation and chemotherapy in late November, 2006. I haven't posted them before because that was during my "silent" period when I didn't post...


Bobo and I, click for a larger view
During that time, my hair would come out in clumps, you could just grab a bunch and pull it out. Suffice it to say, my hair was sparse (I ended up shaving my head bald 12/2/06, because I felt the sparse look didn't suit me, and my hair wasn't falling out fast enough).


Separated at birth?
When my hair was sparse, my dad said I looked like a "baby orangutan." I jokingly told that to my radiation oncologist, to which he replied, "A baby orangutan would be confused by how you look." As far as I could tell, he wasn't joking.

In the picture of my face above, you can't tell how thin my hair was, which is why I show the back of my head. I have a better view, but it doesn't fit in as well with Bobo or the baby orangutan. Yeah, for a few days I was the stereotypical follicley-challenged guy with a goatee. Then I shaved...

A side note - I do like all kinds of monkeys and apes. A quick way to tell them apart is that monkeys have tails and apes don't. Therefore, chimps (which Bobo appears to be - although he is just a head) and orangutans are actually apes...

03/27/08 - Transfusion VIII

My last post mentioned that I had nothing to post about my health. Well, things certainly happen fast. I got my blood counts checked Monday, and my hemoglobin as well as my platelets were low. I got the results Tuesday morning, and my platelets were at 8,000 - the normal low is 143,000. I went for a platelet transfusion that afternoon...


A unit of platelets.
My brother was leaving, so he was able to drop me off at Moffitt (practically on the way) around 1:30. My appointment was at 4:15, so I expected to wait awhile. Moffitt took me around 3:00, to my surprise - I usually have to wait well beyond my appointment time. So, I got my transfusion and an injection of Aranesp to raise my hemoglobin count.

I received Benadryl intravenously before the transfusion, since I have reacted to platelets in the past. I have said it before (see Transfusion VI), and I'll say it again. My immediate reaction to Benadryl is lightheadedness for at least 15 minutes. For example, I was reading a magazine article and it took me an very long time to get through a paragraph. It was hard to go from one line of text to the next one. I didn't care about its immediate effect...

Of course, the euphoric effect is followed by an overwhelming feeling of tiredness that affected me the rest of the day. Laura picked me up about 6:15, and after dinner, I slept a good portion of the evening.

So, this morning my father took me for another blood check. I probably won't get results until tomorrow morning. I spent too much time yesterday updating my blood count plots, which you can see at the link to the right of this blog, or here . After posting this update, I hope to reply to some Emails, and investigate some websites (also known as sitting on my couch with my laptop). That's "busy" for me now, understanding how trivial that would be for most people.

I feel good in general. As I have said before, I usually don't feel my low counts, although I may have to be more cautious or I might have more fatigue. Again, you get used to the low counts, and they become "normal." If everything goes as planned, I only have one chemo cycle to go. By this summer, things may be more normal for me...