Here we go again. With Thanksgiving in the rear view mirror, Black Friday too, the Christmas season was a full go. The only day off I would have until Christmas Eve would be my trip down I-95 to Baltimore for my last appointment of the year with Dr. Miller and her crew. No need to bore you with the details at this point since the trip was a rinse and repeat, going through the protocol motions. I was very happy to say though that my white cell counts were improving. This reduction in the amount of cells was very encouraging. At this point STI-571 was working! It was a miracle. A Christmas miracle. An amazing, substantial reduction in the count. My PCR results were trending in the right direction too! This was great news all around and none too soon. If the results had not improved much at this point in my treatment, I would most likely be preparing myself for a second Bone Marrow Transplant. After the usual bloodwork and another freaking bone marrow aspiration, I would be on my way back to continue the holiday grind.
Dr Miller had given me explicit instructions. I needed to gauge myself and not push too hard. I was still really tired all of the time and working so many hours was not helping my situation. My Hemoglobin count was still very low. Neutrophils too. While the drug was working so well, it was hammering my good cells, leaving me wide open to infection. Dr. Miller was worried about me contracting a bad virus or Flu since I would be around so many customers. I began wearing a mask again to help keep the germs away. Having to wear a surgical mask all of the time really sucks. Lol. If I only knew. But business was brisk. I would have to suck it up and make sure all of my customers were taken care of as they were accustomed. Like I’ve said before, we are Santa Claus. There is no…”Oops, I can’t deliver”. Never happen. I love my customers.
I couldn’t wait to get through the three weeks to Christmas Eve. This was such an emotional year for my family and the fact that I was responding well to the new drug, well, this was the best Christmas gift we could ever receive. Through it all, I found time to get out and play Santa for the boys. I loved opening their letters to Santa and deciphering the crooked, misspelled toy requests. Nicks letters were always so detailed and always included some type of charitable donation. He was so sweet. When the clock hit five on the 24th and we were all cleaned up, I locked the door, loaded up the car and headed home. So thankful that business was good, every customer was very happy and I had the strength to finish out the season. Kudos to my employees, fabulous as usual. Everyone would be waiting for me to arrive home to eat dinner. The appetizers were mostly gone by the time I got home. I was used to that. Lor always made so many great appetizers. It would be a wonderful night. A wonderful Christmas! So much hope entering the New Year. I needed rest though. I pushed it too hard. This would be evident on my next visit to Hopkins. That next appointment, was in the first week of January. So Happy New Year it is… goodbye 2000. Not sad to see you go, for the most part.
Next Up: Transfusion