I returned to the City of Hope today for the results of my Tuesday tests, and, sure enough, the EOS count jumped another 10% in one week.
I won't lie to you; those little buggers scare me. I'll be relieved to start the attack with a daily dose of 60 mg of Prednisone, the drug I call my ironic little diet pills. I'm already losing a pound a week (five pounds total), thanks to the EOS. If I'm not a complete glutton, I will now lose weight at an even faster rate. Let the gorging begin!
My doctor is still reluctant to give me an official diagnosis of HES (hyper eosinophillic syndrome), primarily because it's such a rare blood disorder. We knocked one rare blood cancer into remission. What are the odds that I would immediately develop another, unrelated blood disease?
Our short-term strategy is to decimate the EOS with the Prednisone and eventually taper off. And then we'll play the watch and wait (i.e. monthly monitoring) game to see if they come back again. If they do, then we'll develop a different plan.
This afternoon, I used the City of Hope computers while I was between appointments. Both hands were on the keyboard, frantically trying to set up interviews for an article that's due tomorrow. I started coughing, and my busy hands didn't make it to my mouth in time. The "gentleman" (not a patient) sitting next to me used his nastiest tone to admonish me, "You need to cover your mouth." I used my surliest voice to respond in mock politeness: "I'm so sorry that I failed to do that. I will work hard to be better the next time, especially since you have taken the time to remind me of this in your nicest possible voice."
I actually did work hard to supress my cough and cover my mouth after that, especially when I was in the waiting room with masked patients. I was trying to make amends for my earlier bout of bitchiness.
Lord help us all if the Prednisone makes me more irritable.
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