Immune system finally crashes

It was bound to happen.  My immune system remained strong through seven chemo treatments, then after the eighth one, it plummeted.  (Last week, my white and red blood cell count was lower than normal.  A lack of white blood cells is called leukopenia, caused by chemotherapy in my case. A lack of red blood cells, more familiar to most of us, is anemia.)  So on Tuesday,  I waited about 45 minutes to find out if I was even going to have an infusion.  In the end I did, but my oncologist decided I had to return the next day, and for the next two days after that, for a Neupogen injection to help my body manufacture more white blood cells.  Neupogen is a man-made protein that stimulates the growth of white blood cells.  Unfortunately, it also caused my joints and bones to ache and also may have given me a whopper of a headache that lasted until Sunday.  The lovely headache returned today and I don't know if it's caused by the Neupogen or by having a low red blood cell count.  Since the red cells move oxygen through the body, too few red cells could have been the problem.  


I have chemo tomorrow so I'll find out what my counts are.   In the meantime to help me grow more red blood cells, I'm having some seriously delicious Stella-made grass-fed beef meatloaf, broccoli, and a green salad.  Cheers!