My Second Week After Chemotherapy
Obie Editorial Team
That weekend was our trip to New Orleans I mentioned in my last post, where we had a blast. On the Monday after my trip (14 days post chemo), my white blood count was up to a 12. This was a significant improvement from the 2 I received on the previous Thursday (10 days post chemo). The lowest your white blood count should get is 4. My next treatment was just over a week away. Although my day brought great news, when I picked my daughter up from daycare, my good news was replaced with somber news. I was friends with the center’s director and a few of the other parents. One of my daughter’s classmate’s older sister was also fighting cancer. She was 8-years-old and had stage IV stomach cancer. She had been in chemotherapy for 8 months. She had received the results of her most recent tests that day, and they showed her cancer had spread to her scalp and lungs. This was a precious little girl, and she was fighting this disease with everything she had - and the cancer was winning.
I was also hearing stories about another friend of mine who was also dealing with breast cancer. She and I had worked together. She had inflammatory breast cancer. She had not been feeling well lately, either. I felt really bad. I was doing well, while these people I cared about were not. It was a struggle. When you have cancer, and you are doing well, and you hear of someone not doing well, or even losing their fight with the disease, there is a sense of guilt that comes with it. I cannot explain it, nor do I know why it is there, all I know is it exists, and it is a miserable feeling.