Last week at chemo mom told the nurse that she was planning on going to the casino this week. They scheduled her to return today to check her white blood cell count.
They tried everything they could to get a blood sample through the port. Mom said that they even had her lean over and cough and laugh. When she did that, she could see blood start up the tube, but as soon as she stopped, it would flow back down.
Turned out her blood pressure was dangerously low. Have I mentioned that her regular doctor (who has her on BP meds but doesn’t monitor her correctly) is an idiot?
They finally extracted enough blood from her finger to run the test. Her white blood cell levels are dangerously low, and her red blood cell levels are dangerously low. She got another shot of Neulasta and one of Procrit.
“Look on the bright side,” I told her. “Every time you get a Neulasta shot it costs your insurance company $3000.”
The nurse practitioner told her it was a good thing she told them she was going to the casino, because the NP would never have ordered those tests.
She says she feels much better tonight.
Now if she would just find a real doctor, life would be good.
