Oh, I forgot! (What a surprise...)
I forgot to tell you that I had a doctor appointment and good old Dr Lestingi was soooo proud of me. Not only were my counts great, my nodes were much smaller. He upped the dose of cytoxin a little, since I've been tolerating it so well with the Neulasta. He said we'll do two more rounds of the Rituxan + CVP after this one and then do the CAT scans again to see what's happening inside.
And I am now going on 6 weeks without a platelet transfusion!!! Monday will be the 6 week mark. And I am now officially a ONCE A WEEK blood draw! I only have to get my counts checked once a week when I go in on Thursdays for my weekly vincristine. I've finally made it to going to the Cancer Care Center only once a week (except for the neulasta shot the day after the big chemo, which I'd better not forget again! See the previous post for details on that little snafu.) So two weeks out of three, I only have to go in once. Wow. Time for a vacation!
Saturday, September 28, 2002
I'm Way Behind on Posting, and also a Little Nutso...
I'm assuming it's the prednisone that's been turning my brain into swiss cheese and not incipient senility. It's hitting hard this time. Here's what's been happening:
I did indeed have my next biggie chemo on Thursday. My counts were good. Platelets were 88. They said I would probably get up over 100 if they let me go another week without treatment, but we are on a roll here. The treatment went well. Except for the swiss cheese brain aftereffects.
So far, I've forgotten two important things. I forgot my office hours online with my students, even though I WAS ONLINE AND HAD A NOTE RIGHT ON THE FRONT OF MY SCREEN!!! That was embarrassing. Then I was supposed to go back on Friday (yesterday) afternoon for my 24 hours after chemo shot of Neulasta. I forgot all about it. I forgot to get anyone to drive me. I forgot it even existed. Luckily, my wonderful nurse Ann called me at 4:45 to ask where I was. At first I didn't even know what she was talking about. Then she mentioned the shot and I had one of those Oh Shit! experiences. She was nice enough to stay after the clinic closed at 5:00 (on Friday!!! The woman's a saint!) so I could rush over there (driving VERY carefully in rush hour traffic, sticking to the back roads). I got there and back safely and then hung up my keys... Not sure what to do with my brain.
And now it's Saturday night and instead of worrying about all my disintegrating brain cells, I went out to a movie with Mary and laughed instead. Mindless, funny, light entertainment was about my speed tonight, so we saw "Sweet Home Alabama" and enjoyed it very much. No convoluted plot lines for me to remember, and it reminded me about some of the fun parts of the years I spent in Georgia. Great parties, lots of dancing, fun music, and total lack of judgment... Oops, this is a family-read site. Skip that part.
Erin and I will have fun tomorrow on a Lakefront cruise fundraiser that we got free tickets for. (Thanks, Mo and Corinne, for double booking your events so we got your tickets!) We'll be cruising the lakefront, gazing at the skyline and out over Lake Michigan, eating one of the best brunches I can remember... Should be fun on prednisone. I'll try not to dance on the table... However, maybe I should make myself a note about taking some Dramamine before going on board. Think I'll remember to read the note????
I'm assuming it's the prednisone that's been turning my brain into swiss cheese and not incipient senility. It's hitting hard this time. Here's what's been happening:
I did indeed have my next biggie chemo on Thursday. My counts were good. Platelets were 88. They said I would probably get up over 100 if they let me go another week without treatment, but we are on a roll here. The treatment went well. Except for the swiss cheese brain aftereffects.
So far, I've forgotten two important things. I forgot my office hours online with my students, even though I WAS ONLINE AND HAD A NOTE RIGHT ON THE FRONT OF MY SCREEN!!! That was embarrassing. Then I was supposed to go back on Friday (yesterday) afternoon for my 24 hours after chemo shot of Neulasta. I forgot all about it. I forgot to get anyone to drive me. I forgot it even existed. Luckily, my wonderful nurse Ann called me at 4:45 to ask where I was. At first I didn't even know what she was talking about. Then she mentioned the shot and I had one of those Oh Shit! experiences. She was nice enough to stay after the clinic closed at 5:00 (on Friday!!! The woman's a saint!) so I could rush over there (driving VERY carefully in rush hour traffic, sticking to the back roads). I got there and back safely and then hung up my keys... Not sure what to do with my brain.
And now it's Saturday night and instead of worrying about all my disintegrating brain cells, I went out to a movie with Mary and laughed instead. Mindless, funny, light entertainment was about my speed tonight, so we saw "Sweet Home Alabama" and enjoyed it very much. No convoluted plot lines for me to remember, and it reminded me about some of the fun parts of the years I spent in Georgia. Great parties, lots of dancing, fun music, and total lack of judgment... Oops, this is a family-read site. Skip that part.
Erin and I will have fun tomorrow on a Lakefront cruise fundraiser that we got free tickets for. (Thanks, Mo and Corinne, for double booking your events so we got your tickets!) We'll be cruising the lakefront, gazing at the skyline and out over Lake Michigan, eating one of the best brunches I can remember... Should be fun on prednisone. I'll try not to dance on the table... However, maybe I should make myself a note about taking some Dramamine before going on board. Think I'll remember to read the note????
Thursday, September 26, 2002
Good Foot News
The ortho doc says my foot is healing fine and I can increase my walking and other activities as I'm ready to do so. He said any aches and pains will be from protesting muscles, not a refracture at this point, unless I do something really drastic. I don't plan to. He also said the pain in my thumb and elbow are more likely arthritis than stress injury. He took xrays and said that's what it appeared to be.
Tomorrow (well, actually today, since it's after midnight here) morning is my appointment with the onc doc and then the full chemo, unless something is seriously out of whack that I don't know about. It will be a long day at the Cancer Care Center, starting with my appt at 8 am... So why am I still awake???? Am I anticipating the prednisone now? It's not enough to be awake for most of the next 5 days, I have to add a day in advance?
I think I'll try going to bed again. I must be tired now.
The ortho doc says my foot is healing fine and I can increase my walking and other activities as I'm ready to do so. He said any aches and pains will be from protesting muscles, not a refracture at this point, unless I do something really drastic. I don't plan to. He also said the pain in my thumb and elbow are more likely arthritis than stress injury. He took xrays and said that's what it appeared to be.
Tomorrow (well, actually today, since it's after midnight here) morning is my appointment with the onc doc and then the full chemo, unless something is seriously out of whack that I don't know about. It will be a long day at the Cancer Care Center, starting with my appt at 8 am... So why am I still awake???? Am I anticipating the prednisone now? It's not enough to be awake for most of the next 5 days, I have to add a day in advance?
I think I'll try going to bed again. I must be tired now.
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