Friday: Rituximab Continues and Tumor Lysis

Long night's journey into the day! Joe had a rough night from the effects of the Rituximab,

It is now a little bit after 10AM and Joe's temp is normal, his BP 115/66, HR 86. There is only a little bit of the Rituximab left in the bag. A doctor of the kidneys came in to see Joe since he appears to be having "tumor lysis" which is from the white cells mainly dying from the Rituximab and putting those dead cells give off toxins into his blood stream. They are going watch his blood counts very carefully the rest of today. His potassium level is high so they gave him some meds that will make him poop a bunch. Dr Haigermeister, Lymphoma Doc,  stopped in  to explain the "tumor lysis" some more. The Bad White Blood cells are dying which is a good thing and right now Joe's kidney's are functioning good. The white cells that are dying could clog up his kidneys and if the clog up too much Joe would need dialysis. The need for dialysis has not happened in 15 years since they know how to gets things under control before it happens. The special drug they give Joe is $5000 a dose and he will be given three doses. Oh my! His White Blood count is down to an amazing "7" from  a high of three weeks ago of  "168". WOW!

Bad white blood cells go away and do not come back another day.

It is now 1:22 CST Joe is snoring away. I had left at about 11:00 AM to the studio apartment to walk Max and change clothes. Max is still freaked out from yesterday morning when there was a loud crash behind the stucco wall where he had just taken a poo. When I took him out last night and this morning, he took a pee and wanted to rush right back into the building. Both time, I walked back and forth with him  trying to console him for about 30 minutes but he still would not take a  poo. He shook and he held his tail downward. After Joe checks out, I will take him to the big Dog Park and let him loose and perhaps that will calm him down. Poor dog!

At my request I was handed Joe's last blood test from the draw at 4:30 AM. I will list the main ones below, the normal ranges, the results from Monday, 11/1/10 before the chemo started and the most current ones.
                                                             11/1                         11/5
White Blood Cell Count  (4-11)            56.1                           7.4
Red Blood Count (4.5-6.0)                   3.02                           3.09
Hemoglobin   (14-18)                            8.9                             9.0
Hematocrit    (40-54)                            29.4                          28.9
Platelet Count (140-440)                      76                              26
Neutophil %   (42-66)                           N/A                           83
Lymphocyte % (24-44)                         N/A                           16
Basophil % (0-1)                                   n/a                              1
Neutrophil Absolute Count (1.7-7.3)      N/A                           6.14
Lymphocyte Absolute Count(1-4.8)       n/a                              1.18
Basophil Absolute Count (0-.1)              n/a                              .07

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At 3:15 PM Friday afternoon, Joe's temperature is normal, BP 105/65 HR 73 (Yeah) and oxygen level 97%. Sleeping Man is now awake and alert. He is finally taking a poo which we hope will discard the excess phosphorus serum which was a high 6.5 when the normal ranges are 2.5-4.5. They just took a blood sample to determine where he stands now.