A Bloody Lesson (Don't Get Excited!)

Brain cancer is...

Dr. Park explains blood results.

 ...continuing to present opportunities to learn about the fantastic human body.

Reader's advisory:  Technical information follows.  
For those members who want to cut to the chase:  Today's visit with Dr. Park was good.  Darrell can now cease taking the heavy duty antibiotics. His blood counts are fine, and chemo proceeds on Monday. 

We have not worked to understand Darrell's blood counts, which were initially measured twice monthly and are now measured once monthly.  Dr. Park always has just said, "Blood counts look good!  Proceed with chemo!"

Because we won't see him in November (he'll take vacation), Dr. Park gave us a lesson in interpreting blood counts today.   On the rare chance that you'd like some information on blood counts and cancer treatment, read on. 

A Lesson in Darrell Blood Counts

Blood is considered an organ.  In fact, it's your largest organ, and it's comprised of four components.

• Red blood cells
• White blood cells
• Platelets
• Plasma

This 52-second video explains it well, and it has the added benefit of resembling an amusement park ride:

 Source:  American Society of Hematology
Alternate video link

Chemotherapy can lower blood counts, interfering with patients' ability to function normally. The numbers of monthly interest in monitoring and planning Darrell's treatment are these three:

• White blood cell count:  White blood cells fight infection.  Each month the lab measures Darrell's total white blood cell count.  Darrell's count today (and always) falls in the normal range for a cancer patient; he has 4,000 white blood cells in each milliliter of blood.
• Neutrophils:  Neutrophils are the most abundant and the best super powered of the white blood cells.  The lab counts the total number of neutrophils.  Today Darrell had 1,900 of those super powered puppies in each milliliter of blood.  (The low end of the normal range for a cancer patient is 1,500). 
• Platelets:  Platelets help control bleeding and support healing. The normal range starts at 100 platelets in each milliliter of blood.  Darrell had 163 platelets in his sample today.

 Super hero Darrell has super hero blood!

Thanks for staying tuned.  You can take the teacher out of the classroom but...