OK, so we’ve been living “blood counts” for a while now, but I’m sure that the numbers don’t mean much to many of you. The chemo I received pretty much took the count of all my blood cell types down to near-zero levels to get rid of all the bad guys. My time here at COH has been to rebuild my blood with healthy cells.  So, here’s the primer:

• CBC: Complete Blood Count – very common diagnostic test to see how blood cells of each type are in your whole blood.  
• WBC: White Blood Cell Count – normal is 3.5-10.5, but in my world getting above 1.0 is really good as it indicates you’re making the climb from chemo to transplant to health.  My count of 1.9 today felt like a home run. You can’t get WBC transfusions, that’s why protecting me from exposure to infections has been so important. 
• Hgb: Hemoglobin – normal is 13.5-17.5. I’m currently at 8.7.  This will come up with my WBC over time.  When this falls below 8.5 is when they need to give me an RBC transfusion…I think I’m done with those.
• Platelets: normal is 150-450.  I’m currently at 29.  This will also come up with my WBC over time.  When this falls below 20 is when they need to give me a platelet transfusion…should be done with those, too.  

That’s a very quick summary – there’s plenty of info out there if you really want to become an expert!