Vorlon Whispers

April 3 Final Update

Today was a little better than yesterday. Any movement gets me to huffing and puffing, but I continue. Going up and down stairs is a bit of a challenge, but I just take my time. Going up, makes me huff and puff. Going down is a challenge of leg coordination.

I dropped another three Lbs from yesterday. I weighed in at 154 Lbs this morning. The good news is I don’t feel guilty about almost anything I eat.

I did make myself TWO bologna sandwiches and had them for lunch. I did not have any lettuce on it, but it was been years since I had one. I will say, it went down very and I particularly liked the bread and butter pickles I put on them.

My forehead is recovering from the radiation. It's sort of like a sunburn. The outer layer of skin is flaking off. I smear some Vaseline Intensive Care lotion on it and that seems to help a bit. Eventually the skin will recover – I hope.

My sleeping is a little strange. I go to bed so tired I can hardly keep my eyes open. I zonk out immediately. Then I wake up a few hours later, drain the plumbing and go back to bed. The rest of the night, I tend to sleep a little fitfully.

The good news is I can sleep on either my right side or my left side with about the same amount of comfort. There is still some sensitivity in my left rib cage, but it is not enough to keep me awake. I have discontinued my ibuprofen, as I don’t feel I need it.

Occasionally throughout the day, I will get a stabbing pain in my feet, legs or toes. It usually only last about 10 seconds, but it can make me wince a bit when it hits. I’ve been down this road before and as time goes on, it should gradually recede.

In the category of be careful what you wish for, I noticed that in my last treatment, I notice they had upped my chemo dosage. My Taxol went from 370 mg to 390 mg. My Carboplatin went from 565 mg to 575 mg. When I mentioned this to the nurse, she said we told you last time we were increasing your dosage. I have absolutely no recollection they said anything. However, what am I going to do, call them a liar? I consider it my own fault, as I should have been monitoring my treatment more thoroughly.

Although that seems a very small difference, feel like it is a bigger hit than I would have expected by looking at the numbers. I noticed it particularly in the numbness of my feet and fingers. I had been asking the oncologist if we should increase the dosage.

I have decided, perhaps a bit late, to double check everything they do. When I got my Neulasta shot, I looked at the box she took it out of; to be sure, it really was Neulasta. In my previous treatment, I didn’t feel the pain from the Neulasta as intensely as I had anticipated. I worried that they had given me something else instead. However, when they did their blood test, my white cell count was very high, which meant they had indeed shot me with the Neulasta.

It’s late for me, I’m off to bed.

Posted by The Vorlon at April 3, 2006 8:34 PM