Day 9: Chemo two. Aaah .. feeling good!

Yesterday's walk must have really done me a world of good! I woke this morning feeling completely normal. That's a huge improvement over last cycle where I was suffering from zero energy at this point. I climbed the stairs this morning with very little effort and no real increase in pulse rate.

It's nearly lunch time, I've had three of my five IV's. Biljana initially brought them in one at a time, but now has left two on the table, casually telling me the flow rates as she left the room.

I've also had my daily meeting with the doctors. Dr Kopic has returned from his holiday and we covered all aspects of the treatment.

First up blood counts. WBC 6.1 and platelets 52. I'm happy with those counts. The nurses are concerned, but the doctors agree with me that they do not warrant intervention at this stage. We are monitoring them daily. Tomorrow will be interesting.

There was some doubt as to whether I had been given Neumega the night before last. The nurse said that was what she was injecting, but then nurse Biljana said I had not been given any. I certainly didn't get anything last night. I checked with the doctors and yes I got one hit of both GCSF for the whites and one of Neumega for the platelets as I had thought. (Why they would give me just one is beyond me.)

I've told them that I am leaving on September 29th. This has caused a bit of a panic as they want to give me my last Dendritic cell vaccine on that day. This is because that date is the earliest that it can be prepared. There will be no more 'hot dates' with Dr G in that cursed pizza oven. So that's good! Apparently it's too hard on my system so soon after chemo.
Also mentioned was the fact that I can leave the klinik as soon as my blood counts show stability.
Stem cells... Hmmm We have looked at having them stored here in Germany, but to be honest I'd be much happier if they were back in NZ. I was impressed with the way they are handled and stored by the team back in Wellington. I have no way of knowing if that level of expertise is the same here. There's still the risk of damage to the cells from their back and forth trip across the world and subsequent temporary storage. Fingers crossed they are OK. Fingers crossed that I'll never need them anyway.

I'll be in touch with World Couriers and Wgtn hospital today and start organising their safe return. The doctors here seem to be overwhelmed by the whole process of sending them back. You could see the relief on their faces when I said I would organise it.

So all in all a good day. Energy levels are climbing and bloods are yet to do anything too scary.

Lets hope it continues like this until I leave and I can get back to the real world.