I decided to go have my blood checked one last time before the next years deductibles kicked in. For those of you that like the details, here goes. First numbers are mine, second are what they say are normal (for males). Understand that each hospital has a little different idea of “normal”
| Category |
Brad’s Numbers |
“Normal” Male |
| WBC |
3.3 |
(4.8 – 10.8) |
| Nuetrophils |
1.9 |
(1.5 – 6.5) |
| RBC |
4.28 |
(4.7 – 6.1) |
| HGB |
14.2 |
(14 – 18) |
| Platelets |
140 |
(130 – 400) |
As you can see, for the most part my numbers look good. My platelets were well over 200 before I started chemo so I’m not sure why they have stopped at 140 but after being down around 6 for a while, I’ll take 140.
Other than a cold that I can’t shake, I feel pretty good. Katie (our 20 year old daughter) is still recovering from having her tonsils taken out just over a week ago. Tami got a call from her Dr. yesterday and told that on top of taking blood pressure meds, she now has very high cholesterol and triglycerides and will begin meds for the cholesterol today. She’s a little bummed about that but maybe, just maybe we can begin taking better care of ourselves now. ( I said maybe…and had my fingers crossed!)
I hope everyone has as great a new year as we plan on having in the Williams’ household.
Brad
December 28th, 2007 at 05:24pm
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Grab your favorite tasty beverage and get comfortable as this might be a longer than normal letter. In my last post, I told you about an article I where people with the blastoid version of Mantle Cell Lymphoma showed only an average 12 month survival after diagnosis and virtually a zero chance of survival after 24 months. As of this writing, I’m 9 months after diagnosis. Today, the pendulum swung the other way.
The same person on the same MCL newsgroup that posted that link to the bleak information (that turned out to be over three years old by the way) has just today posted a portion of a paper from some doctors in Europe that believe they may have found….drum roll please…a cure for MCL. Yep, a few days ago the information put out there seemed to indicate that I had better get my affairs in order and today I hear that my “damn the torpedoes full speed ahead” approach to eating everything in site just might need to slow down. (people find all sorts of ways to put a kink in my plans it seems) Anyway, there is this new high dose chemo plan ( a little different than what I did) followed by a stem cell transplant that appears to be giving rather incredible results. Of the people that completed treatment, 63% had no repeat of the cancer at five years while 74% were still alive at five years. Here is the exciting part. Of those that were event free at three years, NONE of them have yet to relapse. WOW, that is exciting. It sounds very similar to what my doctor had told me about those of us with the more aggressive blastoid version of the disease. In his studies, it showed that of the people that remained disease free for 2 ½ years, NONE had relapsed. Encouraging to say the least.
As I’m writing this, Katie is in bed after having her tonsils out two days ago. She has been spitting up a little blood and rarely can even keep fluids down. Tami is the supportive one around here and would be taking care of her except she is in the other part of the house in bed running a fever. For those of you that know me personally, you are probably laughing about now. That brings up a good point. Isn’t God smart!! God allowed me to get the cancer instead of Tami. ( hold up there, I didn’t say He gave it to me, just allowed it to happen) Remember, I’m the one that tells everyone to get over it. I get the cancer and can fairly easily tell myself that it really isn’t that big of a deal….Rely on God, family and the doctors and live life until the boss upstairs has better plans for me in heaven. Tami was there to be the incredibly supportive wife. What if she would have gotten cancer and not me? I would be there to tell her to get over it and she would have….well, hopefully I would have been better than that but you get the point.
Well, I have to go give Katie her medicine, make Tami some chicken noodle soup and get ready for the Cowboy game on television (yes, in that order) Oh, and I have to go get an anniversary card as tomorrow is our 24th wedding anniversary. I got lucky with the one I married; I hope all of you did too.
Merry Christmas
Brad Williams
December 22nd, 2007 at 07:30pm
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Mantle cell lymphoma is a disease that effects a rather small percentage of people. As such, we usually try to keep in touch with each other via emails or blogs. I read something today that just took the wind out of my sails. It referred readers to a site in Australia from one of the legitimate lymphoma organizations. It specifically discussed the blastoid version of mantle cell. Blastoid, which is what I have, is the very much more aggressive growing form of the cancer that also carries a much shorter life span. This article showed that the average patient with blastoid version only lives 12 months from diagnosis. I’m 9 months out now. It also showed that almost 100% of the patients with blastoid die within 24 months of diagnosis. That took my breath away for a moment….then I began to think clearly again.
First, the study is from 2003. Advances have been made since then. I’ve talked to blastoid patients that have lived for almost 10 years after diagnosis. Ok, I feel a little better. Second, God is in control. I know that some of you get tired of hearing it, but it’s the truth. The good Lord has seen fit to remove all evidence of what was stage IV cancer. Does that promise me a long life? No, of course not. However, it does make me feel relaxed for lack of a better description.
As we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Lord this Christmas season, I understand that it is sometimes difficult to stay positive about our situations. “In all things, give thanks” isn’t easy to do. However, there are very few people that I know that shouldn’t consider themselves extremely lucky….including me. When you are busy buying presents this year, trying to make everyone happy, take a moment to give thanks for what you have instead of complaining about what you don’t have.
Merry Christmas to you all.
Brad, Tami and Katie
December 18th, 2007 at 06:52pm
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I had my blood work done one last time on Friday afternoon and all appears to be going very well. My numbers certainly aren’t in the normal range but they are getting closer all the time. My next visit won’t be until I go back to MD Anderson during spring break for the next checkup.
Until then, I’M FREE!!!
December 3rd, 2007 at 09:11am
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