On Wednesday, January 20 I had my second appointment with Dr. Ellis at Wake Forest Baptist Health Hematology and Oncology. I knew the drill there and experienced no surprises other than the amount of time it took. I arrived at 8:30 a.m. and didn't leave until 11:30 a.m. Dr. Ellis was running behind in her clinic visits.
Lab work done - only two vials of blood drawn this time! Labs included complete blood count and complete metabolic panel. I've updated my lymph absolute counts and percentages on the side bar to the right. It seems my lymphs have actually decreased since the last time; I suppose that's good news but was told that they can vary with this malady. Interestingly, the percentage has actually decreased too. I am clinically anemic at 13.9 grams of hemoglobin per deciliter of blood although this is up slightly from the previous result. Standard range for hemoglobin is 14 - 18 grams/deciliter of blood. My neutrophils are hanging in there too which helps to prevent infection. Overall, my numbers were slightly improved over last time. Hooray!!
The PA and Dr. Ellis examined me to make sure I had no enlarged lymph nodes or spleen. Negative on both of those. She was much more casual today and didn't even have her doc smock on. She was very affable and actually sat down and spent some time talking about things in general, including my struggle to find a WFBH primary care provider. She couldn't pull any strings to get me in to see her own personal physician. That search continues.
All in all, it was a good and uneventful visit. She has put me on a semi-annual blood test and office visit schedule, which is less frequent than the original quarterly blood test and semi-annual office visit schedule. That's very positive and was not unexpected since Dr. Loughran and Dr. Ellis had a discussion about my diagnosis and prognosis.
My next appointment is July 20 with Dr. Ellis. These blog posts may become less frequent but please resist temptations to compare me to George R. R. Martin!
Lab work done - only two vials of blood drawn this time! Labs included complete blood count and complete metabolic panel. I've updated my lymph absolute counts and percentages on the side bar to the right. It seems my lymphs have actually decreased since the last time; I suppose that's good news but was told that they can vary with this malady. Interestingly, the percentage has actually decreased too. I am clinically anemic at 13.9 grams of hemoglobin per deciliter of blood although this is up slightly from the previous result. Standard range for hemoglobin is 14 - 18 grams/deciliter of blood. My neutrophils are hanging in there too which helps to prevent infection. Overall, my numbers were slightly improved over last time. Hooray!!
The PA and Dr. Ellis examined me to make sure I had no enlarged lymph nodes or spleen. Negative on both of those. She was much more casual today and didn't even have her doc smock on. She was very affable and actually sat down and spent some time talking about things in general, including my struggle to find a WFBH primary care provider. She couldn't pull any strings to get me in to see her own personal physician. That search continues.
All in all, it was a good and uneventful visit. She has put me on a semi-annual blood test and office visit schedule, which is less frequent than the original quarterly blood test and semi-annual office visit schedule. That's very positive and was not unexpected since Dr. Loughran and Dr. Ellis had a discussion about my diagnosis and prognosis.
My next appointment is July 20 with Dr. Ellis. These blog posts may become less frequent but please resist temptations to compare me to George R. R. Martin!
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