Low Red Counts

Mary Jo has been feeling so extra tired and drained these past nine days that I called Dr Gall's office today to inquire about the possibility of getting Mary Jo in for a red count booster shot. Apparently the drug is "very expensive", so much that insurance companies have changed the threshold basis for when doctors are allowed doses to be covered by patients insurance plans. The new low hemoglobin threshold of 10.0 is now ten points lower than the old threshold of 11.0 and Mary Jo's count numbers tested today at 10.3 so she is still not eligible to get the shot and have it covered by insurance. I can only imagine how much it must cost if the nurses keep saying its really expensive and they dole out Newlasta, which is a white count booster like candy, and that simple shot is $8,000 per dose. We are going to have blood work done again next Monday and hopefully the numbers will bounce up a bit. The doctors say its no surprise that Mary Jo feels so tired with a 10.3 hemoglobin count but it all part of chemotherapy. The T C chemo agents are so toxic and the human body can only handle so much with out taking a toll. We were told the main goal of the red count booster drug is to try to keep hemoglobin numbers above the 8 range, at which point a patient needs to undergo a blood transfusion.