I visited The Ottawa Hospital's Cancer Centre this morning for my monthly blood work. I was more anxious than usual given that two women I knew had died of ovarian cancer since my last blood work (as I shared here and here). It's not surprising, therefore, that I would wonder whether my luck would run it.

I checked in at the Cancer Centre lab at 9:57 and left it at 10:23. My first results arrived in MyChart at 11:05. As usual, first came the Automated Differential, which counts the five major white blood cell types. My neutrophil level was in the normal range (2.48); I took that as a win, as the level sometimes dips below normal (2.0 to 7.5). Next came the complete blood count (or CBC). My white blood cell level was also in the normal range (3.8). This, too, was a win, since this level has been below normal (3.5 to 10.5) since April. My hemoglobin, platelets and creatinine levels were all within their normal ranges. These five indicators (neutrophil, white blood cell, hemoglobin, platelets, creatinine) are the ones my oncology team pays closest attention to, presumably because they are the most likely to be impacted by the olaparib drug I take to keep my ovarian cancer at bay. Having them all within—or close to—the normal range, month after month, suggests to me that my body continues to tolerate my cancer drug well.

At 12:34, the last of my blood results came in, including my CA125. I had checked my phone numerous times to see whether that particular result had appeared even though I receive an alert when new results arrive. When the last of my results flooded in, I looked for the CA125 line, clicked on it and sighed with relief when I saw a beautiful 7 surrounded by a reassuring green box, hovering at the low end of the normal range (0 to 35). My CA125 continued its low, stable trend.

I also got good news yesterday from my radiation oncologist, whom I last saw six months ago. As I explained in Two years after radiation treatment, Dr. Jin told me in March that since I had surpassed the two-year mark since treatment for perianal skin cancer, my risk of recurrence had gone down significantly. So instead of seeing me every three months, she would now see me every six months. In yesterday's visit, Dr. Jin once again found no evidence of disease.