Yippee!!

So we got great results yesterday at MDACC!  Remember when I said our goal was to get Josh's WBC count down to 170?  Well, it dropped all the way to 107.7!  So in the last week it fell 83.1, which is really great!  His platelets also fell 223 down to 904, so that was exciting also.  His red blood cells also went up a smidgen (.09) but we are happy with anything in that area.  He is not too far off from normal as far as the RBC count goes, so small increments are OK there.

His uric acid levels fell back into the normal range, so the allopurinol seems to be doing it's job.  The only thing that was off this week was his sodium levels.  So they said he is either eating too much salt, or not drinkig enough water.  We did realize he has had quite a bit of salty stuff the last few days and probably not drinking a lot, so this seems easily fixable.

His blood pressure was super high when we first got there yesterday - 160/78.  So they hemmed and hawed over what to do with that, since hypertension is a side effect of Tasigna.  Are you seeing a pattern here?  If it was on the side effect list then Josh is slowly developing it.  He had it checked a few more times before we left and it was back down to normal, so we're hoping it was just a fluke. 

Josh is still having difficulty sleeping, which I think will be the hardest part in getting him back to work.  His sleep schedule is so janky in a normal situation, it makes me nervous to deal with the rotating sleeping times when he goes back.  He has also had a pretty serious muscle cramp in his neck, which is also a side effect of the Tasigna.  It has been manageable with advil, though.  His scalp is still out of control itchy.  And the man is in such desperate need of haircut he is looking pretty out of control with all this scratching he has been doing.  I seriously caught the man with a fork scratching all over his head the night before last!!!!  I was grossed out, but also realized that a fork makes a pretty good scratcher!

The next few weeks should bring some interesting results for us.  One of the big concerns when starting this chemo is that it will be too effective and his WBC count will fall too low.  If that happens then they have to start fidgeting around with Josh's meds.  Which means extra bloodwork and trips to the medical center.  So we are praying that they stabilize in a nice normal range over the next 2 weeks.  For those of you that like numbers, the range we are looking for is 4-11.  Remember Josh is at 107 right now, so we've got a ways to go.

Our other exciting news is that Josh will get a paycheck tomorrow!  It is not for his full monthly salary, but it has really lifted a massive burden from our shoulders.  I've been seriously doing some freaking out!  Silent freaking out, so as to not further freak out Josh, but freaking out none the less. 

Since we are computerless when I got onto facebook today I had 28 messages!  So please, please, please don't be offended if I do not respond to you till next week or so!  I am over at my parents and Josh is downstairs watching all the kiddos, so he wants me to hurry up and rescue him from the madness!  But first I need to research what Aspartate Aminotransferase is!  Whatever that is went up so I need to figure it out.  Ahhh, what I don't do for this man!  :)  But I'm happy he's here to do it for!