Anna V. Price Health Updates

 Today the chemo is kicking in. Anna describes it as pain from someone giving you a swift hard kick in the stomach. She’s extremely fatigued and a little dizzy. She’s still not sleeping well at night,but taking 2 naps a day.  We are trying to load up on foods that will increase her White Blood Count. It may not be enough, but we hope it will help.  We are loading her up on fish for omega-3s and homemade bone broth with leeks, celery, broccoli. We use it in as many meals as we can and at times, she’ll drink it from a mug.  A few weeks ago she received a large box of processed TV dinners from her health insurer. While we can appreciate the act we continue to be perplexed by the healthcare system’s choices. Needless to say, we’re sticking to fresh, natural foods as much as we can. 

Anna is done with the third round of chemo. Now we brace for the inevitable decline of white blood cells that will start this Friday and last until Monday/Tuesday. We are praying we don’t have to make a trip to the ER like we did the first two times, but we’ll go if we have to. She’s been feeling great so far, but that is always short-lived after the 3rd day.  The clinic is large and it always concerns us that there are so many pods for chemo infusions in this little town. 

It’s been a quiet few weeks. Radiation ended last Tuesday and since then Anna has felt really good. The last few radiation treatments were “boosted” so we were bracing for pain, but all she noticed was sensitive teeth, which we did not expect.  The chemo from January had worn off and most days were spent laying low and eating well. She even went to church twice (we weren’t too happy about that because of the risk).  There’s some worry about her white blood cells again. The Radiologist noted the issue on her last day of radiation (they drew her blood that day). Even her pre-chemo blood draw a few days later, on the 11th, was below the acceptable range. Low WBC makes chemo risky because they crash 5-7 days later. If you go in with a deficit the drop can be more dangerous. Luckily, Monday morning (the 14th) she had improved enough to complete the scheduled chemo infusion at 745AM. But not by much. Not the start to a Valentine's Day you would expect! Anna's chemo regimen is 2 infus