This is going to be a long one. We went to the doctor's office and he was very nice and compassionate. He said unfortunately that the CT results still shows that there are some things that have not completely disappeared. Now here's the deal, he is not 100% sure it's the cancer, but it's in the same area and as he said, "This area should be completely clear, and it may be a shadow". Of course were not experts and we need to rely upon his conclusions along with the radiologist report.
He has scheduled two more chemotherapies for Harriet. It was a tough blow to receive even though we are prepared for it. Dr. Chen also said that Harriet needs to have those shots to build up her white blood cell count. One shot every other day. Dr. Chen said that the more chemo you have the harder it is on your white blood cell count to reproduce. That is why she needs to have shots all the way through until the last chemotherapy.
Neupogen (filgrastim) is used to treat neutropenia, a lack of certain
white blood cells caused by cancer, bone marrow transplant, receiving
chemotherapy, or by other conditions. It is a man-made form of a protein
that stimulates the growth of white blood cells in your body. Common
side effects include aching in the bones and muscles. Nosebleeds or
injection site reactions such as redness, swelling, itching, lumps or
bruising may also occur.
Getting the shots makes you feel like you have the flu. You have achy joints and muscles. Harriet will have this for the next five weeks.
After the eighth chemotherapy, then we wait about three weeks and she will have a PET scan which will be more conclusive. Hopefully by then everything will have been killed off and Harriet still live.
So that's it for now. Please continue to pray for her that she can maintain eating food to sustain her strength and that she survives the next five weeks.
Maranatha,
Frank and Harriet
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