Blood counts low

So here's the short of it,
My red blood counts are so low!  

And here's the long

Well, it's no wonder I'm so tired I can hardly go!  My red blood counts are so low.  My platelets, red blood cells and hemoglobin are all way below the lower limits.  Thank goodness my white blood cells and my granulocytes have moved just into the lower limits for normal (barely there, but nonetheless, there).  They are the two that help fight off infections. The low  red blood cell counts mean I can't get my port fixed yet; I can't start radiation until they are up to a really good level; and I'm just going to have to live with the tiredness.  I got Procrit again today, which should help.  I remember Dr. Schlabach telling me how it works.  It mimics something that the kidneys produce that tells the bone marrow to make more platelets.  He chuckled and told me my bone marrow just says, I can't do any more right now.  He assured me today that in time, they'll rebound and I'll grow in strength. 

Last night I got online and started looking around for something that might help with the neuropathy in my feet and hands.  Alan had heard something about Lyrica being used successfully.  I found nothing very good about Lyrica, but I did find two or three posts where people had found success using magnesium oxide and vitiman B6.  So I asked about that today.  Dr. Schlabach didn't prescribe the magnesium oxide, but told me that if I wanted to see what it would do I could take Phillips Milk of Magnesia because that's what it's got in it. He also said that it sure wouldn't hurt to try the B6.  The drawback to the magnesium is that it can cause diarrhea!  Now I'm not sure I want to court that demon right now.  I certainly don't have diarrhea all the time like I did for the first and second week of each treatment, but I still get surprised from time to time and get hit with it.  So far I haven't been able to chart any cause and effect.  But I don't think I'm ready to take something that has diarrhea as a common side effect.  I'm going to get some B6 and start on that.  My feet don't really seem much better from the Elavil, and now I understand.  Dr. Schlabach today said that the Elavil is to keep the pain from neuropathy under control, that it really doesn't treat the nerve damage.  Well, it must be doing that, because I really don't have much pain at all since they told me to up the dose.  Of course, I really didn't have lots of pain from it.  What I do have is this numbness or the prickly feeling.  One of my chemo sisters explained that it's like walking around on blocks of wood.  That's a pretty good description too.  Today I was just standing in the parking lot on my way out of the office and I got off my center of gravity a bit and just got off balance.  There was really no danger that I would fall, but I'll bet I looked a bit drunk!  In my hands, it just impairs my ability to do normal things.  Today I had two instances that really annoyed me.  I was paying for my lunch and needed to get six cents out of my change purse- I couldn't get my fingers to work to pick out the coins.  The other was getting something out of the cabinet for Alan this evening. Ok, Ok - I knew exactly where it was and he didn't and it's usually easier for me to just get it than to try to explain where it is.  Tonight he had to get it, because I couldn't get my fingers to work to pick up the container that was on top of the container he needed! 

I have two more things going on that are quite minor, but I'll report on them anyway.  I stopped wearning mascara a couple of days ago.  My eyelashes never did completely fall out (yet anyway) but they are gone from the middle part of my eyelids.  So mascara just accentuates that they are really thin and mostly gone!  I've also developed sores on my fingers.  Only two are really bad.  These sores are at the tip of my finger right where the nail meets the edge of the finger - on the side.  The skin has split open and it's a painful little place.  My index finger and my thumb on my right hand are the most annoying, especially when I'm trying to use a keyboard or pick up something.  It's really not so bad, but I'm trying to post all the symptoms that I think might be from these treatments - and that's exactly what I think this is.  

I'm planning to work again tomorrow. I feel more comfortable knowing that at least my white counts are beginning to climb.  And I'll just do what I can do.