Chemo -- Day 5 and I feel fine

The Cladribine (chemo) treatments are done. Overall, I felt more sensitivity when hooked up to the saline solution than the actual chemo, and I'm not kidding. I actually feel full of energy right now, but that's not to say that my counts haven't been affected -- they have.

Lots of blood was drawn before today's treatment. Dr. K wants to see if any of my antibody levels have been affected by the Cladribine. Apparently, my blood is very interesting. I should have patented my gene sequences before I signed up (ha ha). As mentioned in Paul Edward's HCL blog, this disease was involved in the first case of human gene patent rights. Recalling the major details, I believe doctors at The University of California kept asking an HCL patient to return to give more blood under somewhat false pretenses but all the while, they sequenced his genes, patented them and then made money off it. The patient sued to have the rights to his own gene sequence and future profits and lost. Anyway, I only care about staying alive, so the CBC results are what matters.

Here's a before and after look at my blood counts based on levels taken right before chemo started and after Day 4:

Cell type, Pre-Chemo Value, Day 4 Value, Normal Range, Percent Change
WBC 3.34 2.38 [ 4.23 to 9.07] -28.7
RBC 4.21 3.93 [ 4.63 to 6.08] -6
HGB 13.6 12.6 [ 13.7 to 17.5] -7.4
HCT 39.5 36.0 [ 40.1 to 51 ] -8.9
MCV 93.8 91.6 [ 79.0 to 92.2] -2.3
RDW 14.2 13.9 [ 11.6 to 14.4] -2.1
Platelet Count 87 89 [161 to 347] +2.3
Neutrophils 31.4 48.3 [ 34.0 to 67.9 ] +54

Lymphocytes 63.2 47.1 [ 21.8 to 53.1] -25.5
Monocytes 4.5 2.5 [ 5.3 to 12.2] -44.4
ANC 1.05 1.15 [ 1.78 to 5.38] +10
ALC 2.11 1.12 [ 1.32 to 3.57] -47
AMC .15 .06 [ .30 to .82 ] -60

The important point here is that my Neutrophil count and platelets have remained rock steady, so it doesn't look like I'm at risk for extreme neutropenia or hemorrhaging. Let's hope this holds out as I recover. Also, my hemoglobin and RBC, although low, are in pretty good shape and should return to normal soon.

I'll have weekly CBCs for the next few months and another BMB on May 2oth. Let's pray it shows significant remission. Yet another BMB will be taken on October 23rd. If hairy cells are again detected, I'll receive 8 weeks of Rituximab treatments (1 per week), but this won't occur sooner than October 23rd because the effects of Cladribine continue to be significant for about 6 months.