Today's Doctor Visit

Terry had an appointment today. We didn't see our oncologist, but saw the gal who takes her place occasionally - Anne Anderson. We like her too.

His counts:
WBC = 2.1 (L)
RBC = 3.52 (L)
Platelets = 61 (L)
Neutrophils = 0.9 (L) (But no shot today, they want his body to be without the shot and work on it's own as much as possible. The DLI has a tendency to make the neutrophils low anyway. So really, that number is okay!)

The counts that tell us about the liver were both good today.
ALT = 73(H)[normal is 17-63]
AST = 75(H) [normal is 15-41]
You'll see that they are still high, but not bad, and certainly better than they had been earlier. Well, they have been good for awhile now, so we are quite happy. We don't mind if they still get better, but we are happy to have what we have today.

Terry feels a little better, but we don't know for sure what to attribute it to. He is not fighting that terrible lingering cold/cough/whatever it was, so that makes him feel much better.
Still no idea as to whether the DLI is working. We'll just keep watching and waiting.

Today's info told us they will watch the Lymphocytes and the Monocytes closely for the next few weeks. I'm not sure exactly what they see, but the numbers will tell them something. Maybe when I hear it one more time I'll understand it a bit better. For that matter, maybe not! Anyway, I'll share today's numbers just in case it's visible to us next time.
Lymphocytes = 40 (normal is 21-49%)
Monocytes = 10 (normal is 2-11%)

Another thing we were told was that "he would never have a normal immune system, because he never did have a normal immune system". She laughed as she said it, and she sounded like she was teasing, but it was probably quite honest and realistic.

Okay, now you need to know that Terry is out combining corn. He left early this morning, I picked him up and took him to the doctor (in his work clothes), and I brought him back to the combine to work some more. He's happy to be harvesting! It's a must do kinda thing! It's progress and it's our means of income. He is happy to be doing what he can to support his family.
Our physician wasn't too thrilled to see the "work clothes and dirt under the fingernails after just having a DLI" but she didn't tell him he couldn't do it. She just wants him to be careful. I'm not sure how obedient he would have wanted to be if she told him he couldn't harvest. Good thing we're not going to have to find out! :)

I love that man! He's my favorite!