Day 7

by Gail Louise Dempsey

Day 7 is about a main character named Victor who has been diagnosed with cancer. The book begins just after one of his chemotherapy treatments, when Victor is headed out on a journey, experiences a low white blood cell count, and then receives a drug to boost his white blood cell count back up to a normal level.Chemotherapy patients typically experience a low point in their white blood cell count after each treatment. The low point is called the nadir, and it often occurs at about day 7 after treatment. Many chemotherapy patients receive a drug (either as a shot or a patch) called pegfilgrastim, which stimulates the production of white blood cells, and thus results in raising the white blood cell count. Pegfilgrastim is a longer-acting version of the earlier generation drug filgrastim. A polyethylene glycol (PEG) molecule is attached to the filgrastim, resulting in pegfilgrastim, which does not get filtered out of the human body as quickly and is therefore a longer-acting drug. Pegfilgrastim is the generic name of the drug, which is sold under many brand names.And now let us go together with Victor on his journey.