Neutrophils and Dermatology

On Thursday, July 29, I visited Mayo Clinic to assess Cycle 31 of pomalidomide (CC-4047). Still stable. IgG was up about 3.5%, and M-spike went from 1.0 to 1.1 g/dL. But we've been here before. In February, IgG was a little bit higher than it was Thursday, and M-spike was 1.1 just last May. The numbers may have a slight upward trend, but they do seem to bounce around on their way up. I'll not worry this time. Maybe next time.

Neutrophils:

My neutrophil count was 930 cells per microliter, just below the threshhold. They won't give me a new bottle of 28 pomalidomide capsules for the next cycle until neutrophils go above 1000.

Therefore, we scheduled another CBC (with differential) for the afternoon, because my neutrophil count seems to follows a circadian rhythm, rising through the morning into the afternoon. In all but one of the previous four cycles I have needed a second CBC, and in each case the second neutrophil count was comfortably above 1000. In all of those cases the second count was taken on a later day, in the afternoon.

This time, though, the second count was done the same day, in the same Mayo Clinic lab. By Thursday afternoon, neutrophils had jumped 63%, from 930 at 9:00 am to 1520 at 1:00 pm. Furthermore, the total white cell count also jumped up from its all-time low of 2.8 up to 3.8.

I knew that physical exertion could increase neutrophils, so before the 9:00 am blood draw I jogged a half mile, walked up and down six flights of stairs, and did 30 pushups. If that helped, it wasn't enough. Dr Lacy informed me, though, that it's really adrenaline that flushes the neutrophils into the blood stream. I asked if a good scare would do as well as exercise, and she thought it would. Anyway, for the second blood draw, I ran a few very short, high-intensity sprints and ran full speed up two flights of stairs. I really don't know if that helped either - maybe the increase is all due to normal circadian rhythm.

Next time, I'll get the CBC drawn the afternoon of the DAY BEFORE the Mayo Clinic visit, at a local clinic. This is OK with Dr L, and may solve the problem of unnecessary duplicate neutrophil counts.

Dermatology:

At the last visit, I asked Dr L about a bump on my forehead, wondering if it was any kind of skin cancer. She didn't think so, but scheduled a "dermatology consult" for this visit. Well, at Mayo Clinic that's more than a cursory peek at one spot. I was asked to put on a hospital gown (the kind that opens in the back, of course), and the doctor checked most of my skin, even those parts that are almost always in the shade.

He was not at all interested in the little forehead patch that brought me in, but he saw several "pre-cancerous" spots on my forehead and zapped them very quickly and efficiently with a little can of freezing spray. He said that about one in a hundred of those spots can become malignant. He asked about a spot on a knuckle, and I told him that it was a bruise (I knew when it happened), but he nonetheless zapped that one too.

I asked him about the skin on my arms, which is now so thin and weak that I can't even use band-aids on it. I know that it has been thinned by age and by steroids, but he said the big culprit is sun damage. We discussed sun screen (use a good one, such as the Vanicream that Mayo Store sells), and hours of the day - he suggested 10:00 to 3:00 I think, but I would go another hour in the afternoon, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, daylight savings time. That's a three-hour window each side of high noon, sun time.

We asked if there was a way to repair the damaged skin. He said that Retin-A has been tried by some, but he wasn't impressed by the result. Retin-A can make skin even MORE sensitive to the sun, and has other significant side effects, so I'll stay away from it but probably will be more careful to use sunscreen.

The doctor said that if any of the frozen spots became open sores, I should just use vaseline on them. We asked about Neosporin, because I've had such excellent results treating other cuts and scrapes. He replied that they recommended Neosporin in the past, but eventually discovered that about a third of people are allergic to it. So far no problem with my treated spots, but if there is a problem I'll use Neosporin anyway because I don't seem to be allergic.

Some current test results:

Test		Apr 29		May 27		Jun 29		Jul 29		Remarks
M-spike g/dL		1.0		1.1		1.0		1.1		Best tumor measure
IgG mg/dL		1010		1110		1120		1160		Good tumor measure
L FLC mg/dL		2.41		2.58		1.74		1.86		L Free light chains
Calcium mg/dL		9.7		9.9		9.9		9.9		Below 10.2 is best
Creat mg/dL		1.3		1.3		1.2		1.0		Kidney, normal
HGB g/dL		14.1		14.7		14.5		14.0		Hemoglobin, barely OK
RBC M/uL		4.21		4.36		4.30		4.16		Red cells, low
WBC K/uL		3.3		3.6		3.4		2.8		White cells, LOW!
ANC K/uL		0.73		0.92		1.09		0.93		Neutrophils, LOW!

Related links:

My Myeloma		A discussion of my myeloma, not very technical.
My Treatment History		Not technical.
My Test Charts		Graphic displays of several key test results over time.
My Test Result Table		Somewhat technical. Best with a wide browser window.
My Supplement Regimen		With links to where I buy them.

That's the oatmeal, right in front on top.