Low White Blood Cells Means No Christmas Program

All dressed and ready to go to Ethan’s Christmas program. I dropped the boys at the door and went to park the car. As I was walking onto the campus, my favorite Research Nurse, Debbie called. She was calling to say that my white blood cell count was low which means that the disease-fighting cells in my blood are low and I could be more susceptible to infections.  I feel fine but need to not be in public places and if I am I need to be extra careful about washing hands, etc. I think she said my counts have been low before but the Nutrifil which is a white blood cell is supposed to be 1500. Mine is in the 600 range right now. I didn’t Google any of this so if any of you do, you might find more specifics. Just getting the information out while it is somewhat fresh in my mind. I found this basic definition from The Mayo Clinic about what it means when your white blood cell count is low.

Staying Away From Germs Is Challenging

How does this make me feel? Of course, I’m a little concerned that I will get sick and a lot annoyed that my activity could be limited. I have been doing so well and have been surrounded by not so healthy people. Sean was sick last week and Matthew has been congested. It seems to be this time of year when everyone is burning the candle at both ends and therefore run down and less able to fight off the plentiful germs that are around.

Can You Believe I’m Still Talking About The Port?

The other thing Debbie and I talked about was the port. Are you all sick of hearing about the port? Well, there are some restrictions so I need to decide the best date to do it. First, for 3 weeks, no running, lifting of 20 lbs or more, stretching the chest, or raising arms above the head in a stretch. After 4 weeks I can go swimming because I do that all the time. Hoping you hear the sarcasm. And one other thing after 3 weeks, NO shotgun or rifle use on the port side. Annie Oakley, I am not so that shouldn’t be a problem. I asked her about sky diving. She laughed. My choices are to do it before or wait 3 weeks after port is installed. So skydiving is becoming a big factor in whether or not you hear about the port again.

I’ll let you all know how my counts are after Thursday when I have my blood drawn again.