Neutropenia and Wheat Germ: Infection Menace or Myth?

Be very careful what you wish for. Checking in to the hospital today for my 96-hour infusion of chemotherapy, my biggest concern was whether I would get a bed by the window. As luck would have it, some interloper was there ahead of me and I got assigned to the other bed. Apparently, this man and his family have more money than God and spent from around 2:00 p.m. until at least 6:30 p.m. figuring out their stock purchases and sales. I was thinking how nice it would be to have a room to myself if this was what I had to listen to, when my nurse came in to inform me that I was being moved to a private room. The stock talk was still going strong at 6:30 when this occurred and I assumed it would go on through the night as long as the Nikkei opened on schedule. This news of a move immediately made happy and suspicious. Happy: No more stock trading or whatever those folks were doing. Suspicious: You get a private room here for one reason; you need to be isolated for one reason or another. In my case, it is a low white blood count, specifically, the neutrophils. The count is 0.6 and should be between 1.4 and 6.5. Neutrophils are white blood cells that form a pretty good part of the immune system. I call it a low white count. The technical term is neutropenia, the adjective being neutropenic; e.g. I am neutropenic and you're not, so there. So, what does this mean? Glad you asked.

Right at this moment, I am being infused with Erbetux. I was scheduled to get the Cisplatin 5FU tomorrow. The plan at this point is to forego the FU and let my levels come back up. This almost assuredly will see me in here longer than 96 hours. If I leave my room, I am required to wear a mask. Other than that, not really all that much to worry about.

Nearly 11:00 p.m. and I just got busted walking the hall without a mask. Time for bed.


Morning and I just had a box of bran flakes explode all over me, my bed and the floor. Good thing I ordered two boxes. Will wheat germ give me an infection?

Now for the, "Boy, did I ever not know what I was talking about," section.

I just found out from my nurse that Cisplatin and 5FU are two different agents, not one. I have been getting the 5FU since sometime yesterday. The Cisplatin still is on hold as my blood levels as of 11:30 this morning (Friday, February 26) have not come back up to par.