Crunching numbers
The results are always confusing to me. There always seems to be such variance from one result to the next. Hmmm. This number went up, while another went down. What does it all mean?! WBC and RBC, and...., and...., and....
All I know is, we were elated this winter when mom's results suggested that she was doing better. In fact, the results spurred the creation of this blog.
WBC last fall was about 215, and dropped to 92 in the new year. Promising.
Neutrophils were funny.
Last fall they were 32 but dropped to .93 in the new year. Hmmm?
Lymphocytes last fall were 180 and then dipped down to 91 in the new year. Ya hoo!
Spirulina, packed full of easily digestible protein & super greens.
Chelates toxins.
As far as I can determine, mom kept up her regime and even added Sprirulina to her daily supplement list. Then her back/hip went "out" while gardening this spring. This seems to happen the same time every year lately. And, it has been an up-hill battle ever since. Before I delve into some of the details, I want to preface that we maintain hope that mom will still beat this condition. I am certainly not trained to analyze mom's blood work, but I do think things are looking up. And her instinct is that her hip/back problems are somehow connected to the CLL. Could be. I also believe that occurances do not happen in isolation of each other, but are interconnected.
What I know is that late this spring we were disasppointed when her WBC was back up and had climbed to 229. Interestly, a month later her WBC was down to 214. Down is good.
Mom's neutrophils in the spring were 4, but a month later her neutrophils were 34. What?!
The lymphocytes had climbed to 225 this spring, but then decreased to 177 a month later.
Hemoglobin has not bounced around as much as far as I can tell ... 114 in spring, to 108.
RBC and platelets have been in the "normal" range.
Seriously, it's enough to make your head spin. And so I started looking up charts and trying to make sense of it all. Perhaps it is futile, but something needed to be done. A website: cllsupport.org.uk helped me in my efforts to make sense of some of the numbers and indicated the "normal" ranges one could expect to see.
If I am understanding the numbers correctly, then mom's ratio of WBC to lymphocytes is such that the numbers are looking better. 229:225 in the spring v.s. 214:177 a month later.
But why are the neutrophils so high compared to other results? I know that they're used to fight infection. But mom doesn't recall having a cold or illness. A bad hip and back lately, yes. But no infection or virus. And then I read that the ratio of neutrophils to lymphocytes is usually 3:1. Interesting information, but I don't know what to do with it.
Meanwhile, it is still "watch & wait" as far as her oncologist is concerned. To compliment her own wellbeing, Mom is seeing an osteopath for her hip/back problems, and we're hoping that this paint clears up soon. Osteopath treatments appear to give her relief, and she is moving around without her walker or cane these days. It was bad for a while. More recently, she has sought the help of an accupuncturist and has been a "pin cushion" once a week for a few weeks now, to help with the CLL. And, for the last month, she has been making great efforts to eat foods that make her body more alkaline. In addition to this, she has been having smoothies made with my homemade kefir, which is rich in B vitamins and probiotic goodness. Beneficial outcomes should be demonstrated in her next round of blood work.
I used to buy Pinehedge (super delicious and creamy!)
but then I started fermenting our own kefir at home.
And just last week I found Black Seed at a local shop. If you do your own due dilligence, you'll read that black cumin has been acclaimed for curing a lot of dis-ease, and boosts the immune system tremendously. If it can't cause harm, why not try it? She takes a few teaspoons of the oil in the morning, and 3 capsules in the evening. I am expecting that this will also have an impact on mom's next round of bloodwork.
Black Seed, aka black cumin. We are all taking
the full spectrum capsules.
Truly, I believe that our bodies have infinite healing capabilities that we can tap into. CLL can be beat and we maintain hope that mom can achieve it.
~Believe~
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