Diary of a Network Geek

On the way home from the clinic.

So, I’ve been “away” for a bit.
Almost two weeks ago, I went into the clinic for what I thought would be a relatively routine check up. And, really, it was. Unfortunately, my blood work showed me having very low counts in every category, so they sent me for an immediate transfusion. I got a unit of platelettes and two units of whole blood. Now, that might sound like there was big trouble, but, honestly, based on my last set of blood work, I was kind of expecting to have that happen. Sadly, what I was not planning on was getting a fever high enough to get checked into the hospital, which is what happened.

So, I spent about a week in the hospital, even though my tempurature was normal after three days, because my white blood cell count was low. That’s bad because those white blood cells are what fight off infection. What’s worse is that I felt fine, even though I missed my best friend’s wedding, in which I was supposed to be the best man.
I came close to going against doctor’s orders and checking myself out of the hospital long enough for the wedding, then checking back in. It was only when the doctor hinted that might cause problems with my insurance company that I decided against it.
The bride and groom, however, brought the wedding to me. They came over, with the Matron of Honor, and another groomsman that the groom and I have known for years, forced me at cake-point to dress up in my tux and took pictures. One of the nurses took pictures of all of us together, as well. I’m told that these will be included in the wedding pictures by the photographers. To say that I was touched by this gesture is the understatement of the century. Words cannot begin to express the depth of feeling I have for those folks who would go so far out of their way to share that special day with me. But, for the record, the chemotherapy took my eyelashes and I get things in my eye all the time now and I was not so moved I was crying. In case anyone was wondering.

I finally got out Monday and was back getting scanned Friday. I’ll get the results this coming Thursday when I see the doctor. I’m hoping that the news I get is that I’m done with chemotherapy and on the mend, but we’ll see.
And, of course, I’ll keep you posted.