Blood Counts

Was I naive about what to expect today or what. Apparently when you are having chemotherapy, there’s no such thing as a “quick” checkup; it’s all about the blood counts.

We learned all about the ones they like to watch (acronyms included).
* WBC – White blood cells
* HCT – (Hematocrit count, this is the measure of both the number of red blood cells and the size of red blood cells.)
* PLT – Platelets
* And finally… absolute neutrophil count (no acronym for this one, but it’s the most important one – key for fighting infection).

So the white and hematocrit counts were on the low side, but at an expected level. Everything else was ok. We also met a lot of different people in the office, all there to help with anything we need…. And now, when watching ER, when someone orders a CBC, I know what they are asking for; a Complete Blood Count.