32,000

That was my platelet count today.

No way to sugar coat it. This is bad news. To say otherwise, to borrow for my last post would stink up the place with the powerful and obnoxious odor of mendacity.

Before I go into the details of what I see in my road ahead, I need to thank a few people.

The radiologist at St Jude triple booked my CT scan, the lab staff stayed late to redraw my blood (and give me a proud tour of their new facility), Dr. Sharma acted quickly and decisively to get the ball rolling, Dr. Forman weighted in and seconded the plan expeditiously by email, the nurses were all great getting the paperwork aligned, the scheduling staff at the hospital and at the clinic wrought miracles, and my wife was right there for me.

It will all be fine, just different and busier, but fine. Have no doubts. It will all be fine.

No panic, please. No big changes. I am just turning off the cruise control and driving myself, with a lot of help from my friends. I am still heading to a place of a healthy old age. And I still plan to have a hell of a time getting there. No stinking ITP is going to spoil my fun.

The Trend

Avoid decisions based on a single data point. Look to the trends. Get ahead of the curves. Plan your future.

That's the theory. As if we really have any control.

My platelets are down a bit further: 117,000 today. At this rate of fall, I will need treatment in 7-10 days for my ITP. It is truly all about the platelets.

So until then, I am going to get into the water, go for bike rides, and just enjoy stuff. I will put off the hang gliding lessons though.

Off to the Festival of Arts today.

My plan to snatch victory is hatched. I have time and my general good health and a great team and incredible support. The moves are being scheduled as I post this blog. There is a way out of here. Everything will be fine in the end.

Confirmed Falling Platelets

I repeated my platelet count: 149,000.

So it is down 190,000+ in about two weeks. I am not acutely sick so that is not the cause , nor it is likely my CLL, because that moves more slowly and my ALC is still low, so my old nemesis, ITP is clearly on the diagnostic table.

But there are two other items that need some focus.

First is that it is not worse today than yesterday, so it is not falling off a cliff. Small comfort.

Second: could it be the green tea extract? Not likely, sadly. ECGC, the cancer killer in green tea, is associated with decreased platelet activity, but not with decreased counts. Nevertheless, I will stop could my recent increased dose as see if that helps. I am emailing Dr Neil Kay, the PI on the green tea study to get his take on my new concern.

Not much else I can think of to cause this kind of fall.

My CT scan is moved up to tomorrow, in case I need treatment for falling platelets. Most of those treatments would shrink my nodes and confuse the findings on that important test.

Crunch time.