This week's labs (CBC, or complete Blood Count) report came back from this morning's blood draw, and my neutrophil count actually increased! I am up to a 1.89 from a 1.68. This is surprising because the chemo drugs that I am taking (Taxol and Carbo) are supposed to guarantee a drop in neutrophils (which are a type-- one of four-- of white blood cell, and help prevent infection. Infection is not a good thing for me.). Since the chemo wipes cells out indiscriminately, bad or good, because it cannot differentiate between them, it is expected that they will inevitably drop. [I am not a medical professional and so I know I am likely missing important details but hopefully am catching the gist... please bear with me if you are more knowledgable than I am.]
Since my counts are still above 1.5, chemo tomorrow is a go. If they had dropped, I would have had my chemo pushed back a week and would have instead started a neutrophil booster. If you read my earlier post about this, a possible side effect from the booster is bone pain (or ache). Luckily, since I do not have to have the booster this week, that means one less booster overall during the course of my treatment. It is, however, inevitable that I will have the neutrophil booster. It's okay. It's going to be all right.
Since I am going to have chemo tomorrow, and it will be the third week, that means I will also receive immunotherapy (pembro or Keytruda) or the saline solution placebo, as part of the clinical therapy trial I am participating in. Here is a review of immunotherapy and my trial:
It is a 2 to 1 chance that I am receiving immunotherapy. My trial is in Phase 3, which means it has had positive results in its first two phases. My non-medical explanation of immunotherapy is as follows: immunotherapy is some of the most groundbreaking research in cancer treatment in recent history, and is blowing researchers and the medical community away with its results. It works with the body's immune system to identify, target, and kill cancer cells. My immunotherapy is the type that works with the immune checkpoint inhibitors, and has already been approved for other cancers such as melanoma (and a few others). Former President Jimmy Carter reportedly was treated by the immunotherapy that I might be receiving. The really kickass thing for me is that while Triple Negative Breast Cancer makes it so that there are some types of treatments (namely, hormonal) that do not work for me, immunotherapy puts a big one back on the table.
Here is more about immunotherapy if you are interested.
Since my counts are still above 1.5, chemo tomorrow is a go. If they had dropped, I would have had my chemo pushed back a week and would have instead started a neutrophil booster. If you read my earlier post about this, a possible side effect from the booster is bone pain (or ache). Luckily, since I do not have to have the booster this week, that means one less booster overall during the course of my treatment. It is, however, inevitable that I will have the neutrophil booster. It's okay. It's going to be all right.
Since I am going to have chemo tomorrow, and it will be the third week, that means I will also receive immunotherapy (pembro or Keytruda) or the saline solution placebo, as part of the clinical therapy trial I am participating in. Here is a review of immunotherapy and my trial:
It is a 2 to 1 chance that I am receiving immunotherapy. My trial is in Phase 3, which means it has had positive results in its first two phases. My non-medical explanation of immunotherapy is as follows: immunotherapy is some of the most groundbreaking research in cancer treatment in recent history, and is blowing researchers and the medical community away with its results. It works with the body's immune system to identify, target, and kill cancer cells. My immunotherapy is the type that works with the immune checkpoint inhibitors, and has already been approved for other cancers such as melanoma (and a few others). Former President Jimmy Carter reportedly was treated by the immunotherapy that I might be receiving. The really kickass thing for me is that while Triple Negative Breast Cancer makes it so that there are some types of treatments (namely, hormonal) that do not work for me, immunotherapy puts a big one back on the table.
Here is more about immunotherapy if you are interested.
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