I take blood test at once every week, but I had never received a call about it from the hospital until this time.

It’s a bad timing. I was having a drip when I received the call. The caller said that my WBC (white blood cell) was too low and I needed to see my doctor.

My WBC always had a sharp drop after the chemo, but this time it breaks the record and is less than 1 point. Without seeing my chemo doctor, I knew I need injections to boost my WBC.

Again the timing is not right. Tomorrow I had a PET-CT appointment, which would check if my cancer has spread to any other organs before the surgery. No CSF injections within 30 days before a PET-CT. It took us a lot of trouble to make this appointment. If I re-scheduled it, I didn’t know how long I need to wait, which means I might also need to re-schedule my surgery.

My chemo doctor just prescribed CSF for me, as for taking PET-CT or not: consult with your surgery doctor. My surgery doctor? Okay, if I was lucky, I might catch him on Friday without an appointment (his appointment has always been full). By then, what’s done is done. What’s the point of consulting?

A catch-22. I would rather take the chance.

It kind of pisses me off. I drink five-red soup, I eat ox tail until acnes spring up all over my face. All the foods that supposed to boost my WBC didn’t work. The last chemo hit me pretty hard, and I spent several days muddleheaded. I want my life back—at least part of it. So today, I got up as usual, doing something productive—despite every cell in my body protest. If rest didn’t work, then try something different.