My numbers are sloooowly beginning to climb out of the abyss. My white blood cell count is now up to 0.9. Hemoglobin and platelets aren’t doing great and I may need another transfusion of each before leaving the hospital but my ANC has risen to 0.6. That may not sound like much but it’s a huge improvement from the absolute flat line that it was a few days ago. My mouth is also much, much better, to the point that I may be able to chew again. I’ll test that theory at breakfast when I eat my fruit.

This is ridiculous. It isn’t even 10 in the morning and I’m soooo ready for a nap! 😴😴

I plowed through my breakfast without hardly batting an eye and I’d love to order more solid food for lunch and dinner but I don’t think I’m quite there yet. The mouth ulcer is still very tender and I don’t want to push my luck. I’ll stick with softer foods for now and maybe tomorrow I can order something a bit more challenging. Tomorrow’s breakfast has a nice selection with scrambled egg and diced red and green pepper, maybe I’ll order that. YUM. Christmas-style eggs!

I CAN CHEW! SAINTS BE PRAISED, I CAN CHEW!!! Hey, it’s the little things… I got a large portion of steamed broccoli along with my Mac & cheese and soup for lunch and I was finally, FINALLY able to eat it with little to no discomfort. The soup had huge chunks of carrot and other veggies and I was able to handle that as well. I can’t tell you how much this means to me, to be able to eat with no pain and to feel free to order solid food again. I’ll still have to be careful for another few days but I’m definitely on the mend. Whew! 😄🎉🙏🏻

Sooo… I found out approximately how much the hospital is charging for one cycle of my treatment. I hope you’re sitting down, because it’s in the ballpark of $500k. That’s just what the hospital is charging, that doesn’t factor in the doctors’ fees. I don’t even know if that includes the medication. To say I’m a bit stunned is like saying the Grand Canyon is a big ravine. My hospital stays have rung up a $3,000,000 bill. Holy shit, where’s my paper bag…