November 17, 2013.. My white cell count today was 0.75, hemoglobin-8.9, platelets-28. There was a new test added yesterday called HPC (Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells) to my daily blood tests. This test indicates when I am ready for stem cell collection. I was told earlier, when the count gets to 10, I should be ready for collection and they will confirm that with the ProCOUNT. The couple we have been talking with from Tulsa, OK went for collection when her count was 5 and she has collected 13 million so far. She goes again tomorrow so I expect we will not get to talk with them again because when she gets 20 million, they will go home. They were really nice folks. She was a school teacher and he is an attorney and financial manager. We will miss seeing them every day. Yesterday, my HPC was 1 but today it was 0. Later, they will probably also run a ProCOUNT to estimate the number of stem cells that have been mobilized from the bone marrow to the bloodstream. This mobilization must take place before the stem cells can be collected.

I received one liter of saline again today and two 600 mcg injections of Neupogen. 

I heard the nurse I had today mention to someone her family had taken a camping trip. I asked her about it later and she said they had taken a camping trip to Yellowstone this summer. Well, we sure had a lot to talk about after that. They were in Yellowstone about a month before we were and they stayed in one of the campgrounds we stayed in. It sure was nice to be talking about fun things and camping for a change.

I continue to avoid people or wear a mask when I am around any except Reta and the nurse that is assigned to me at the hospital. When we go to get supplies, Reta goes in the store and I stay in the car. Maybe in a couple of days, my immunity will be high enough to go about as usual.