SIR Spheres Step 2 ..... NOT

Yesterday Terry and got up at 5:00 am and made the one hour drive down to the hospital for the second phase of the SIR Spheres. We did the admission paper work, had my blood drawn and went to the radiology “holding” area to be prepped and wait for the procedure. I got into one of those flattering gowns and they hooked me up to the IV. After a while the interventional radiologist came in and spent a good twenty minutes or more with us explaining what was going to happen and what to expect afterwards. Then we waited some more; more than what seemed normal. Eventually the radiology oncologist came in. She’s the person responsible for calculating the correct dosage of radioactive spheres. She determined that the correct dosage for me was zero. It seems the blood tests revealed that my white blood count was too low. Although it was only slightly below normal, probably caused by the chemo, she explained that the SIR Spheres would cause the count to drop further. The risk was too great that it would end up at a dangerous level. Dr. Jabbour, the radiology oncologist, called Dr. George, my medical oncologist, and they decided that the best course of action was for me to go to Dr. George for an injection to boost the white blood count. So we left there and headed for Dr. George’s office. As it turns out, Patrice, the chemo nurse, taught me how to inject myself with Neupogen because I’ll have to do so for four days. On Monday I’ll go back for another blood test and hopefully get rescheduled. It was a big inconvenience but only a minor setback in the big picture. Carry on. ------------------------------------------