Blood simple

During 2007 my white blood-cell count kept falling inexplicably. I was sent to a highly regarded hematologist, who didn't want to jump to any conclusions but cautiously told me there was a possibility of some pretty serious conditions, including lymphoma.

Dr. Jaye (that's her first initial; her last name is Srinivashia, but she's universally known as Dr. Jaye and is even paged that way at the hospital) chose a wait-and-see approach. She suggested adding a vitamin B-6 supplement to my diet because it plays a role in bone marrow development. She also suggested an iron supplement to boost my production of platelets, which were also marginally low.

My lovely and I had already changed our diet to eliminate almost all processed foods and junk food, as well as red meat. Dr. Jaye recommended eating red meat once a week or so, to get vitamin B-1, whcih simply isn't available from any other source. So we relented on the red meat but have stuck pretty well to the rest of the diet.

After my October visit, Dr. Jaye told me to come back in three months. That would give the diet and lifestyle changes time to have an effect on the bone marrow and blood counts. It would also allow her to observe any changes in the two spots on my liver that appeared on a CT scan.

Fast-forward three months to January 28, 2008.

(You can read my last previous post if it helps fill the gap.) I'm feeling physically well and emotionally confident.

They send in the warm-up act first, a very nice Nigerian PA (physician's assistant) who shows me the report on my most recent CT: The liver spots have become almost invisible and are harmless -- probably cysts.

(The report notes that "the stomach is completely empty," which isn't surprising since I was in the midst of a four-day total fast for spiritual purposes. Our church, Free Chapel, engages in a 21-day fast every January; it starts with a three-day total fast, then becomes a Daniel fast consisting of fruits and vegetables only. Our pastor, Jentezen Franklin, has just released a new book on the spiritual discipline of fasting.)

The PA also notes that my platelet count has gone from 108 in October to 109 now. That's a bit below normal range (140-440), but it's stable and therefore nothing to get worked up about, she says.

So now I'm feeling really confident that all this nonsense is about over with.

Then Dr. Jaye comes in.

My overall white-cell count came in at a low, low 2.9 per deciliter; the normal range is 4.8 to 10.8. That's not good.

During my very first visit with Dr. Jaye, she mentioned doing a bone-marrow biopsy, but didn't want to do it because it's invasive and painful. However, now she was stumped and out of options, so she said the biopsy was needed to find an answer.

The specific condition she's looking to identify or rule out is myelodysplasia, which she described as underdeveloped bone marrow. Untreated, it eventually can lead to leukemia, lymphoma or multiple myeloma, all of which are forms of cancer.

Research I later did on the Internet indicated myelodysplasia can be treated with medication, and if that doesn't work, a bone-marrow transplant is a treatment option. The preferred donor pool for transplants is siblings, since they are the only candidates with whom the patient shares both parents, which increases the odds of a tissue match. Should it come to that (and let's pray it doesn't), I am blessed with an unusually large pool of potential donors -- six sisters and four brothers, several of whom have already expressed their willingness to become donors. Thanks, you guys.