Clearance, Clarence!

Yep thats correct we have clearance to go on vacation, officially.  No more appointments before we leave except a routine check up with the surgeon tomorrow.

Had my labs done this morning; I was worried when I got to the Infusion Suite for my neulasta shot & the charge nurse asked me if I could wait a while to be sure I didn't need a transfusion.  Meanwhile I'm furiously checking for the results on my ipad (love technology & at Vanderbilt I see my labs the same time my doctor gets them).  Guess what - the red blood counts are actually better than they were when I was getting treatment last week.  Much better than they were on May 1st when I had to get the transfusions.  So, no blood products needed this week.  In my slowly growing medical knowledge, I have learned that there are really two numbers to look at for red blood cells.  One is PCV (which stands for packed cell volume, strange) or Hematocrit.  The other is platelet level.  My platelets are good (they have to be above 75 to have a treatment & Dr Keedy likes them above 85) - mine are 167.  PCV is harder for me to understand, but mine was 29 today (it was down to 24 when I got the transfusions).  They also I think sometimes look at an actual red blood cell count, but I'm not clear when that number is used & when its not.  Dr Keedy explains it to me every time I go but then by the time I get to write about it I've forgotten.  The red blood cells are the ones that transfer oxygen around your body.  The white blood cells fight infection.

Hooray.  This is a great sign, to me, because it means that my body handled the last week of treatments well.  My white counts were low but I got the Neulasta injection today & that will boost them back up during the next week or so.

So, I was a little nervous about today's blood tests.  I didn't feel so great this morning - not terrible just really tired so I was expecting them to be a little less good than they were. You know I didn't really want to go to the dentist either & I actually told the dentist not to clean my teeth today because of my low white counts.  So I was leaving the dentist parking lot to go over & get my labs done & guess what I came across.  A heads up penny.  We've all heard that old saying right -

heads up penny, pick it up, all the day you'll have good luck.
pennys tails, flip again, share the luck with your friend.

So I picked it up.  I never ever do that.  Here it is - kind of a junky looking penny & a really bad droid picture.  But evidently it was today's good luck sign.  Think about all the forces that had to align for me to come across that penny in the parking lot right before I went to the lab.  I had to go to the dentist, park in the right spot, leave at the right time, actually look down & see it, think to pick it up, etc.

So that started me thinking about signs.  I've always been a big believer in signs or coincidences or omens & things like that.  Weird for someone who is so fact-oriented.  The other day I was waiting in the car while Kendall went in the post office (thats the  way I torture him, making him go to that horrible awful place - its worse than Walmart).  There was a train track right next to the post office & a train barrelled down it the entire time I sat there.  And a song about trains (chemo brain means I have no clue actually which song) played on the radio the whole time.  Who the heck knows what that means, if anything, but it sure was a weird coincidence.

The first person I ever met who shared a birthday with me turned out to truly be my sister from another mother.  Thats a coincidence, right?  There are millions of strange little signs out there that some higher power is either seriously screwing with our minds or is trying to give us signals (or both most likely).  Anyway, I'm not making a lot of sense this afternoon am I?

I'm so excited about dinner tonight - an amazing looking lasagna, yummy bread, a great salad, & mini cupcakes.  Thank you guys so much.  I was also honored today that I get to go with my friend when she has a little procedure done in August.  Mean the world to me to be able to "help back" some of the people who have done so much for us these last few months.

The girls are getting into a frenzied state about being nearly done with school & going on vacation.  Love to see their excitement.  Oh wait, thats me, not them.  They are still whiny about getting up in the morning & mad that I'm telling them to clean up their rooms.

Thanks for the encouragement, support & thoughts - I probably won't post any pictures until I get back from vacation.  Here are some for you to be thinking about while we're gone.  Hope mine are even better!