Looks Like I’m In!
I received good news today. It was in a fortune cookie from Pei Wei.
“You will move to a wonderful new home within the year.”
I’m thinking the reference was about heaven, because we have no plans to move anywhere and our home here on earth is already wonderful.
And I have to admit, this heavenly news came as quite a relief. Up till then, I’d figured I was pretty much on the bubble.
Quick Update
Today, I’ve left the house (other than two brief walks) for the first time in a week. For the most part I’ve been in bed, hoping for a change.
But today I managed to drive my car to work for half a day.
The new medications (lasix and another diuretic) have helped a little, I think. It’s hard to tell, really. Less fluid seems to be gathering in my stomach, although it’s still gathering. I’ve only been able to eat small portions of anything, so I have little energy. And I drink as much as I can, but that doesn’t seem like much either.
They’ve said I can do no chemo for a month. The chemo, however, is what is holding the cancer back. So I’m kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place here.
I’m just trying to do the best I can during this rough patch, hoping I will have some return to normalcy in the future.
Ultrasounds, Hospitals and Doctors, Oh My!
That I’m back at the computer at all is saying something, for the last six days have been a down-spiraling curve of declining health, or, perhaps, symptoms that can lead to no other conclusion.
It started weeks ago, as I described in past posts. The Ascites (fluid filling up my stomach cavity) had been momentarily forestalled by draining it out with a needle. This had allowed a long-awaited trip to Austin, twelve days ago, and a reading at Full Circle Bookstore with friends the Monday afterward.
After that, I was scheduled for chemo on Thursday, six days ago. But at that point things started going downhill. My labs came back with some problems that prevented me from receiving chemo. (High proteins and bilirubin scores). Instead, I was given fluids and Avastin and sent home. Meanwhile, the fluids had started building in my stomach again and I was feeling tired and bloated.
Halloween weekend was fairly miserable. I’m not sure that I ever left the house, except for a walk with my wife to Starbucks and an hour cleaning leaves from the pool, both of which were followed by three hour naps. I couldn’t eat, so my family went without me, bringing me home some soup afterward. I did my best to choke it down.
By Sunday night, my stomach resembled Buddha’s, and I was having trouble breathing. At one point, my son became very concerned, which is saying something when it comes to a teenager, and my wife was threatening to take me to the emergency room. I had a doctor’s appointment on Monday, so I was able to convince her I could make it until then.
On Monday, I met with doctors and described my latest symptoms. They sent me for a chest x-ray and an ultrasound and another procedure to have to ascites removed. 1.4 liters of fluid were taken, but I also had fluid in my lungs, so they checked me into the hospital for the night. The plan was to check the fluid in my lungs the next day and drain it if needed.
My condition improved, however, after the stomach fluid was removed. Follow-up x-rays and ultrasounds on Tuesday showed that most of the fluid in my lungs was gone too, meaning it had likely infiltrated the lungs from the stomach. New drugs were prescribed to try to assist in getting rid of the stomach fluid and I was sent home.
My stomach feels much better, for now, and I have been able to eat a little again. But I was exhausted on Tuesday night and having trouble breathing again. Plus, I had chills and couldn’t get warm.
It is now Wednesday and I’m resting at home. The chills are gone and I have enough energy to, well, think and type. I’m still not breathing well, however.
So what’s wrong with me? A damaged liver? Blood pressure issues? Some other condition relating to treatments? Walking pneumonia? H1N1? A combination of these? Or none of the above.
Who knows? But tomorrow it’s back to the doctors with the goal of getting me stable enough to do chemo.
Hooray.
