Just a little poke...

Today was the first day of poking. Before every round of chemo I have to have a CBC (Complete Blood Count). It helps  to diagnose some blood cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma. It tells if a cancer has spread to the bone marrow and also helps determine how well your body is tolerating chemotherapy. It provides information on your white and red cells and your platelets.

Normal Red Blood Cell Range: 38%-48%

Normal White Blood Cell Range: 2,500-6,000 Neutrophils 

Normal Platelet Count: 150,000-350,000

I used to be TERRIFIED of needles. And yes, I would get the old "But you have tattoos! How can you be scared of needles?" Well it's more of a mental thing..the thought of something sharp poked into my arm, wiggled around trying to find a vein just really made my stomach turn. 

Since June of last year I have been poked by nurses well over one hundred times. After my hysterectomy I was prescribed Lovenox for thirty days. It is a blood thinner given to patients after major surgery to prevent blood clots. I had to learn to inject myself every day and after a few times, it became second nature. The fear of needles was gone. (Except dentist needles, that fear will NEVER go away! Guaranteed!!)  

It's to the point now where I can tell the nurse which vein will work, which vein has a weird curve to it and which veins will cause issues. 

I will be getting a Port put in my chest on Tuesday which will basically mean that no more fishing for those troublesome veins. I will update more on what a Port is in the next posting. 

Who invited Cancer to the party???

This Cancer guy is really starting to piss me off..and yes it is a guy. I've decided.
It's like one of those friends that you delete off facebook yet they continue to send you friend requests. You then block them but they come back with a different email address and try to friend request you again! GET THE HINT!! I DON'T WANT TO BE YOUR FRIEND!!!
No matter what I do and what hints I drop, he isn't going away. So the next step is to kill him. That should do it!
He has come back around after five months trying to invade my body and mind and enough is enough. The first three rounds of chemo and a trachelectomy scared him off but not good enough. He then crashed the party again and decided to invade my lady parts which resulted in me getting a hysterectomy. Thanks a lot "friend". He brought a few friends with him this time and they lingered around the party. Even after the party was over, we found them passed out in a lymph node or two. They sure partied hard! I have gathered my troops and we are ready to finish them off, make them extinct! I'm really hoping these two party animals that Cancer brought haven't hooked up and don't have little cancer babies in waiting...they won't know what hit them!

Ps: I have stage 3 cervical cancer even though I don't have a cervix any more but it is metastatic because it has spread to lymph nodes in my upper abdomen. That's all. Carry on.