Ohio, USA: The following update was given by David Phillips via Facebook on 26-September-2015.
I woke yesterday to some of the best weather I have seen in years. It has been a good two weeks. I had my second Chemo therapy on September 8th.
When I spoke to the doctor I found that one of the concerns is my white blood cell count. One of the medicines has the side effect of killing the white blood cells. This concerned me and the doctor. The medicine also has other side effects, like sensitive to cold, nausea, dizziness and others. I have not had big problems with the other side effects so the effect on the white blood cells was a concern to me.
We had wonderful meetings in Kansas City. It was very good to reconnect with our friends. I was scheduled for the next Chemo on the 22nd and we returned to Columbus on Sunday to be in time for the meeting with the doctor. At 8:20 am on Tuesday Naomi and I pulled into the James Cancer Center. What a beautiful day! The Sun bright, the sky blue, the clouds white against the blue and the gentle breeze touching our faces.
We walked through the doors and sat down at desk 5 for the man to check me in who gave me a arm band with my name and birthday. A few minutes later I was guided to the lab. A few weeks ago a surgeon installed an access port in my chest. When they called me back a man quickly pulled the curtain, sat and “plugged in” a needle to my access port. He pulled on gloves, plugged into the port with saline and squirted three times. Then plugging in a glass cylinder he drew blood. Four glass cylinders of blood later, he checked the arm band, the labels and made sure everything matched. It had all taken about five minutes.
We went up to the eighth floor and a nurse took my weight, height and blood pressure. All this was needed to make sure the medicine was measured correctly. Finally we talked with the doctor. My blood had been analyzed in just 20 minutes and she had the results. It turned out that my white blood cell count had dropped very low. Too low for them to give me a Chemo on Tuesday. The doctor explained that it was the oldest medicine, Bolis, which was giving the problem. She would reduce or eliminate that medicine from this point on.
Normally, when I have a Chemo, I get the Bolis for 2 hours and then I am plugged into a pump attached to my chest port. That pump runs for 46 hours and buzzs every 30 seconds the whole time. I now have a break and my next Chemo will be on Thursday October 1st.
I feel good. I am exercising now and slowly gaining strength. I am praying for a good immuen system when we finish this whole thing. I am also praying that we are able to keep our One Year Visa from Thailand. This comes due in February. I am praying that the Lord guides us through this!
Thank you for your prayer and friendship!
