Immune System Recovering

I got a blood test today to check on my neutrapenia. Here are my results for the important counts by date - before chemo, a week after, and today:

White Blood Cell(K/uL)
Standard Range 4.0-11.0 K/uL
12/16-before 6.5
12/23-after 0.9
12/29-today 2.4

PLATELET (K/uL)
Standard Range 150-400 K/uL
12/16-before: 266
12/23-after 102
12/29-today 181

NEUTROPHIL ABS (K/uL)
Standard Range 2.0-8.0 K/uL
12/16-before 4.1
12/23-after 0.5
12/29-today 0.9

So according to my oncologist, I'm out of the danger zone and he expects my counts to be normal by my next chemo date next week (Wednesday). I will get a blood test the day before the next chemo as well. But even though they're still low, my doc says, "If you have any New Year's plans, don't stop yourself..." (Oh sure.)

My tummy's still telling me my immune system is low, so I'm still on the antibiotics. Luckily the dietitian I went to see told me about these probiotics that don't get wiped out by the antibiotics. They are called, "Florastor" and can be found over the counter at the SC Medical pharmacies. I know that they work because I've stopped being nauseous from the antibiotics.

Any other probiotics I tried from the health food stores would work for me only sporadically since I am taking these antibiotics throughout the day. So let's hope that in the next week or so before I get chemo-d again, my tummy finally heals.

I want to write about my diet sometime later when I feel the energy for it. I have a very limited diet right now but am figuring out slowly what I can and can't eat and maybe one of these days I'll be able to hand off some recipes to all those of you who've been dying to cook for me. As it is, I can only figure out easy to make dishes anyway so I can make them myself. Plus, I am so finicky that I can't really plan anything ahead of time and have to wait for the hour before I'm ready to eat. If I don't, I usually end up chucking whatever I've made. I read a cancer recovery cookbook that reassures the support people that this is a normal thing and that they shouldn't be offended!