With chemo scheduled for Monday I am upping my water intake for a couple of days ahead to make sure we can find a vein. This means more frequent trips to the porcelain so it looks like I will finish a book I am reading in record time. After the treatment we will meet with Dr. H. My work calendar has filled again with some of it backing up on me. A few good days will get me back on even keel.
The lymph is on the march and managing it is an ongoing challenge. Since the surgery I have a significant issue with my left leg, groin and lower abdomen in keeping lymph from collecting. Inger spends extra time every day now. With the training we gained through the occupational therapist last year and web sites such as lymphedemapeople.com we have a great deal of information and support for battling this condition. I have to wear my stocking daily. Admittedly since the surgery I have not been to the gym (now 12 weeks or so I guess) so I do need much more exercise. I have fallen down on my gab dosage, and Saturday my feet told me to get back on the program. Now as Saturday night falls upon us I can reflect on the past couple of weeks and rejoice in the fact that tonight I feel pretty good. Certainly my appetite has returned.
Chemo day at last. Last night I got a stomach ache that did not abate until around 4 AM Monday. Tough night for sure but I was back on my feet again by morning. Now my third round of chemo and I was able to make it without cane today. Through the miracle of modern medicine I enjoyed a deli sandwich and coca cola while having poisons directly injected into my blood stream. Not a hint of sickness although a stomach ache again cropped up in the early evening.
I was greeted warmly by the two infusion nurses on duty who knew me. One asked how my exam went and I responded that I turned my head and coughed and Dr. H smiled. After a moment of shock as they looked at me it hit them, we all laughed and it set the tone for the next 3 hours. I know them well enough now to enjoy throwing them an answer they do not expect when I get the chance. In addition they got new pumps. Although I only had to visit the comfort station a couple of times I do have to drag along the chemicals and pump on the rolling coat hanger. All of the old pumps alarmed whenever they were moved. For a self conscious old man in a small clinic the twangy beep of the alarm is an orifice closer, usually coming at some critical time in the transaction. The new pump did not fail or alarm and by the third trip I had gained confidence and lost the sitting in dread feeling just waiting for it to go off and the door(s) to slam shut.
We met with Dr. H. After next weeks final dose we will wait a couple of weeks and then I get to have yet another CT scan to see where we are. At this rate I am confident I will be able to kill flowers, illuminate a small room and charge cell phones simply by putting them in my pocket in no time.
I layered up, debating whether to wear the boots or not and decided not, I would not go that far. Ah the advantage of dogs, for so many years the demanders of this twice a day at least every day. Without them walks lose purpose and are hard for me to get into the groove of doing. Busy schedules prevent me coordinating with Vanessa, and I can never find Inger. Rarely in the winter do the walkers come out and even in the best of weather they are sparsely scattered in my neighborhood.
With two t shirts, pullover fleece, hoody, lined all weather coat with padded hood, underwear, long underwear, heavy warm up pants, dress socks and tennis shoes I ventured into the winter with Mom’s walking stick. Clouds obscured the moon and other than lights emanating from a couple of houses only the reflection of all the light from town kept the street from total darkness. I want to see how it goes with the tummy and if some of this can be walked out. Short steps and a slow pace took me up the hill and around some 400 additional feet. That’s how it is when I start walking again after a long respite from it, progress is measured in feet not miles. The air was sharp with no wind. As I turned to walk back turning west I felt the gentle flush of fresh air in my face. I had to stop for a moment to take it in. When your mind is wandering and you are out of place and time something like a change in the air can be a dynamic experience to say the least. With the air some of the pain went away, progress. After tending to Tucker I went in for the night, the better for a walk of 30 minutes including prep. When I hurt I find it sometimes most difficult to suck it up and work at getting over it. This makes me a real wuss because the pain is so minor comparatively a pain pill knocks it out in a few minutes for hours so I certainly have nothing to complain about and it should not prevent me from trying anything to control and diminish it. In short the walk helped a lot and I enjoyed a comfortable evening including about 4 hours of real sleep in pj’s and everything. Life is good.
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