I had a visit with my oncologist today. I've never been so excited for a doctor's appointment in my life. That's kinda sad, but I couldn't wait to talk to her. She was impressed by my overall lack of side effects (nausea, etc) and I was happy to see that I'd lost 8 lbs in the past two weeks. Another benefit! She was also more than ready to help find a solution to the headaches.
She believes that the problem is a combination of lack of sleep and the steroids. (Mom was half right!) I asked if it could truly be the steroids, since I haven't taken one in 10 days. She assured me that it could be. What's weird, is that I didn't have the headache when I was taking them. It came later. That's why she thinks it's in combination with a cumulative lack of sleep.
Her solution was to cut my steroids in half for this round, and she prescribed Ambien. I get steroids in my IV before chemo, and then take the pills for the following three days. Instead of two tablets twice a day, I'll be taking one tablet twice a day. I really, REALLY need this to work, so I've decided that it's going to.
Tomorrow is going to be a busy day. I will be at the plastic surgeon's office for a tissue expander fill at 9:00 in the morning, and then back to this side of the state line for my infusion at 11:00. Because they drew blood while I was there today (my whites are up, by the way,) it will speed things up for tomorrow. No waiting for the lab to get the results sent upstairs.
On Thursday, I hope to get a full 8 hours in, and then I have my Neulasta shot at 4 pm. Chemo weeks are SO busy, but it should make it go by quickly. Also, after tomorrow, I can say that I'm halfway done with the A/C portion of my chemo. That's 1/4 of the way done with chemo! Positive thoughts. Positive thoughts. Positive thoughts. Doritos. Hey! How'd THAT get in there? Oh well.
Showing posts with label lab. Show all posts
Showing posts with label lab. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Friday, June 22, 2012
So Much for 40 Hours
This is the week I was going to work 40 hours. All I had to do today was seven hours and 45 minutes. No biggie. I've felt fine most of this week, and I got in early, so it should have been smooth sailing. Should have been.
About an hour in, my nose just started gushing blood with no warning. Well, what an interesting development. And I was glad I had a spare shirt in my car. It took over ten minutes to get it to stop, and the whole time I was thinking, "I think this is on the list." There is a list of side effects that, if they happen, I am to call any time, day or night. When I finally got it stopped, I checked the list.
Yup. It's on the list. I didn't call right away, though. I knew the office would be open in less than an hour, and it had stopped bleeding, so I waited until the office opened at eight and called. I had to leave a message, but I got a call back in under five minutes. The told me to come in for a blood draw. I may need a platelet transfusion. Shit.
They flushed my port, drew the blood, and left the port accessed, just in case they needed to do something, and then the wait started. The nurse, whom I love, told me they'd put a "stat request" on the blood work with the lab. I had electronics to entertain me, so I was fine. After 30 minutes, I heard her ripping into someone in the lab. It was funny. She is grandmotherly and sweet and it was funny to hear that side of her.,
After 45 minutes, the results came back and she said all was OK. I went back to work, knowing I could still get that 40 hours I was seeking. I worked about an hour and a half and started feeling kinda crummy. My headache was a bit worse, and then my face felt hot. I checked my temp and it was 99, so I decided that it wasn't in the cards to get 40 hours this week. I left at the 38 hour mark.
Now I'm home, in the recliner again, and just tired. I hope I feel better for the weekend, since this process starts all over again on Wednesday. I am relieved to know that my blood counts are in an acceptable range. That will make me feel better if any other weirdness pops up this weekend.
(Just so there is no confusion, nobody but me is pushing for 40 hours. My employer is being amazing about letting me work whatever I can, and Kevin can't believe I'm getting in the number of hours that I am. I just want to do 40 on the off week, since I'll always be short on the chemo weeks.)
About an hour in, my nose just started gushing blood with no warning. Well, what an interesting development. And I was glad I had a spare shirt in my car. It took over ten minutes to get it to stop, and the whole time I was thinking, "I think this is on the list." There is a list of side effects that, if they happen, I am to call any time, day or night. When I finally got it stopped, I checked the list.
Yup. It's on the list. I didn't call right away, though. I knew the office would be open in less than an hour, and it had stopped bleeding, so I waited until the office opened at eight and called. I had to leave a message, but I got a call back in under five minutes. The told me to come in for a blood draw. I may need a platelet transfusion. Shit.
They flushed my port, drew the blood, and left the port accessed, just in case they needed to do something, and then the wait started. The nurse, whom I love, told me they'd put a "stat request" on the blood work with the lab. I had electronics to entertain me, so I was fine. After 30 minutes, I heard her ripping into someone in the lab. It was funny. She is grandmotherly and sweet and it was funny to hear that side of her.,
After 45 minutes, the results came back and she said all was OK. I went back to work, knowing I could still get that 40 hours I was seeking. I worked about an hour and a half and started feeling kinda crummy. My headache was a bit worse, and then my face felt hot. I checked my temp and it was 99, so I decided that it wasn't in the cards to get 40 hours this week. I left at the 38 hour mark.
Now I'm home, in the recliner again, and just tired. I hope I feel better for the weekend, since this process starts all over again on Wednesday. I am relieved to know that my blood counts are in an acceptable range. That will make me feel better if any other weirdness pops up this weekend.
(Just so there is no confusion, nobody but me is pushing for 40 hours. My employer is being amazing about letting me work whatever I can, and Kevin can't believe I'm getting in the number of hours that I am. I just want to do 40 on the off week, since I'll always be short on the chemo weeks.)
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