We had a bit of a late start today. LabCorp apparently decided they didn't need to actually do the CBC on the blood sample I left with them yesterday. So we had to redo that in the office. Other than that, everything went fine.
I told the nurse about the pain I had last week on Wednesday and Thursday that I was worried might be my kidneys and she said that it was the neulasta working its magic in my pelvis. And apparently that's a good thing because it meant all my bloodwork looked really good. So yay, and this time I know to take some pain meds for it and call it a day.
There seems to have been a bit of a snafu with getting my appointment set with the DIEP flap guy at UCSF tomorrow (long dumb story, partially my fault for procrastinating about asking the other doc for my records, which aren't there yet). I'm actually totally fine with that. Now that I've decided that I'm not going to attempt to have any reconstruction done in the same surgery as the mastectomy, I don't need to make a decision for a while. I'd like to do it soon, but it doesn't have to be tomorrow. And Bob couldn't come with me tomorrow because of school, so if we can reschedule for a time when he's on winter break, I'll be perfectly happy.
Tomorrow is my last day on prednisone and then I'll take the antibiotics for another 48 hours, and then I'm done with the pulmonary nonsense officially. I've been on daily antibiotics since October 21. My digestive tract is so borked between that and the chemo. It's not been that bad because the other major side effect of the anti-nausea meds is constipation. Mix that with the antibiotic runs and it's not really terrible, but not anything close to normal (for me) either. I've got a nice big bottle of probiotics that I'll start taking on Sunday morning.
I need to do one more follow up with them in the next couple of week so they can order the end of oxygen support - it's not costing me anything, but having the equipment here is treated like a prescription, so they need paperwork from the doc saying I'm clear before they come to pick it up.
My energy levels were a bit better than I was expecting the last couple of days, but I'm definitely feeling the infusion tonight, and the anti-nausea stuff makes you sleepy too. I'm covered from the IV meds from today through tonight at least. I started feeling it last time in the late afternoon on Thursday, so I'll take a zofran with lunch tomorrow and just keep taking them every 8 hours for the next couple of days, which should get me through the worst of it.
That's about it for the cancer update. As I type this, our friend Paul has come over and is helping Bob carry the pieces of the murphy bed that he's been building up from the garage to my office, and now they are trying to put it together and get it installed so Jen can sleep on it tomorrow. It won't be finished - literally it needs paint and some trim pieces still, but it will be operational, and that is good enough for now.
My part in this project has been minor, but it has forced me to clean out my office entirely so they can install it. I've been working on that slowly but surely over the last week or so. Now my working chair is in the dining room - it's a big futon style armchair and ottoman. Ugly as sin, but is comfortable and cat proof. This is where I confess to the world that I hate working at a desk, so I sit in this chair with my feet up, put my laptop on top of an old hospital bed table so it's at the right height for my neck, and type on a keyboard in my lap. Ergonomically it's just about perfect. But it's a really ugly set up. And now it's in the dining room for a few days.
I told the nurse about the pain I had last week on Wednesday and Thursday that I was worried might be my kidneys and she said that it was the neulasta working its magic in my pelvis. And apparently that's a good thing because it meant all my bloodwork looked really good. So yay, and this time I know to take some pain meds for it and call it a day.
There seems to have been a bit of a snafu with getting my appointment set with the DIEP flap guy at UCSF tomorrow (long dumb story, partially my fault for procrastinating about asking the other doc for my records, which aren't there yet). I'm actually totally fine with that. Now that I've decided that I'm not going to attempt to have any reconstruction done in the same surgery as the mastectomy, I don't need to make a decision for a while. I'd like to do it soon, but it doesn't have to be tomorrow. And Bob couldn't come with me tomorrow because of school, so if we can reschedule for a time when he's on winter break, I'll be perfectly happy.
Tomorrow is my last day on prednisone and then I'll take the antibiotics for another 48 hours, and then I'm done with the pulmonary nonsense officially. I've been on daily antibiotics since October 21. My digestive tract is so borked between that and the chemo. It's not been that bad because the other major side effect of the anti-nausea meds is constipation. Mix that with the antibiotic runs and it's not really terrible, but not anything close to normal (for me) either. I've got a nice big bottle of probiotics that I'll start taking on Sunday morning.
I need to do one more follow up with them in the next couple of week so they can order the end of oxygen support - it's not costing me anything, but having the equipment here is treated like a prescription, so they need paperwork from the doc saying I'm clear before they come to pick it up.
My energy levels were a bit better than I was expecting the last couple of days, but I'm definitely feeling the infusion tonight, and the anti-nausea stuff makes you sleepy too. I'm covered from the IV meds from today through tonight at least. I started feeling it last time in the late afternoon on Thursday, so I'll take a zofran with lunch tomorrow and just keep taking them every 8 hours for the next couple of days, which should get me through the worst of it.
That's about it for the cancer update. As I type this, our friend Paul has come over and is helping Bob carry the pieces of the murphy bed that he's been building up from the garage to my office, and now they are trying to put it together and get it installed so Jen can sleep on it tomorrow. It won't be finished - literally it needs paint and some trim pieces still, but it will be operational, and that is good enough for now.
My part in this project has been minor, but it has forced me to clean out my office entirely so they can install it. I've been working on that slowly but surely over the last week or so. Now my working chair is in the dining room - it's a big futon style armchair and ottoman. Ugly as sin, but is comfortable and cat proof. This is where I confess to the world that I hate working at a desk, so I sit in this chair with my feet up, put my laptop on top of an old hospital bed table so it's at the right height for my neck, and type on a keyboard in my lap. Ergonomically it's just about perfect. But it's a really ugly set up. And now it's in the dining room for a few days.
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