Praying for Platelets!

It’s the day before my chemotherapy ROUND SIX and the calm before the storm. I have lived my life to the fullest for the last several days and today has been much more quiet for me as I have this underlying anxiety about the blood test I took Friday during my labs. My platelets were low at 67 and they need to be at least 75 in order to receive chemotherapy safely. I have been resting a lot and doing a research on why this is so important and yes, I prayed for platelets!

Yesterday was such an amazing day as I learned my sigmoid colon tumors are barely detectable with the procedure I had called a flexible sigmoidoscopy. The emotional roller coaster of this disease is real because today I woke up just feeling an overall nervousness around tomorrow, but also an excitement to keep going. Anxiety is likely a better word for it.

While I was using Gemini to research the the importance of higher platelets to prevent internal bleeding, I learned more about the cycle, timing and the term Nadir in the context of oncology.

I heard the term before to describe despair and while that meaning may have a role to play, in oncology Nadir apparently refers to the lowest point of your WBC (white blood cell) counts following chemo and the most vulnerable time for infection in the patient. I had no idea. Let’s hope I hit my nadir last Friday and that my labs creep up over that 75 threshold so I do NOT have any delays in my treatment.

When you are running on a tight 14-day schedule with rounds every other Wednesday, that timeline moves fast. The drop and recovery have to happen in a very compressed window!

The Nadir Timeline from Google/Gemini:

For most standard chemotherapy regimens, the nadir period typically occurs 7 to 14 days after the treatment session.White Blood Cells (Neutrophils): Usually hit their nadir first, around 7–12 days post-treatment. This drops the body's defenses, leading to a high risk of infection.

Platelets: Typically hit their lowest point slightly later, around 10–14 days post-treatment. This is when a patient is at the highest risk for bruising or bleeding.

Recovery: After reaching this lowest point, blood counts slowly begin to climb back up over the next week as the bone marrow recovers.

Please, let round SIX go on as planned! Pray 🙏 for Platelets 🩸!!!!

More to come tomorrow!