Man it's good medicine! Got out on the mountain bike Friday . I was wondering how that would work out, since there's always hard work to be done. I was able to recover enough between the climbs and such to make a good time out of it. Not fast but capable
And then today on the road. Hit a stretch of road half way through and felt like turning it on a little. THAT felt good! Tried not to overdue it. My Dr. always looks at me funny when I tell her I was out for an hour and a half. I don't think she believes it when I say that IS an easy day for me.
If I'm not carefull I might come out of this with some fitness. AND a good climbing weight!
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Back up for air
Feeling like I've turned the corner about on schedule. The MO seems to be 4 "feeling kinda crappy" days after Friday treatment, and then getting back to normal around Tuesday or Wednesday. Did a bike ride the Saturday after treatment (the really "crappy" stuff kicks in on Sunday) with no apparent ill effects so I'm going to try to continue that. I suspect it could only help metabolize the chemo out.
Starting to get pretty conversant on the blood work that gets done a couple times a week - looking at WBC counts and liver function enzymes.
I think I've finally learned not to plan any visits early in the week after treatment. I just never feel good enough to pull it off. An unexpected bonus has been reconnecting with folks from the past, and making some new connections as well.
Starting to get pretty conversant on the blood work that gets done a couple times a week - looking at WBC counts and liver function enzymes.
I think I've finally learned not to plan any visits early in the week after treatment. I just never feel good enough to pull it off. An unexpected bonus has been reconnecting with folks from the past, and making some new connections as well.
Monday, June 22, 2009
My brother Jon just left for home
He had made his second visit from Utah in a month to help out and spend time with me. He gave up a week long cycling vacation in Colorado to come here. Yet another example of extraordinary efforts from many folks to help me get through this.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Turned the corner on the mucositis
Looks like I've turned the corner on this. Didn't NEED any drugs overnight to deal with the pain and I'm reducing the Oxycodone today without any problems. I'm still getting my outstanding prescriptions filled while I'm here at the Hospital Center today. I do NOT want to get caught short should it (or something else) come up again.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Insurance/Pharmacy Rant
Needed 2 drugs. One (for pain) Giant can't fill until Monday or Tuesday. The other (highly marketed heartburn drug) needs special insurance pre-authorization. Called CVS and they won't even deal with the pain medication. WTF?? It's your JOB to fill prescriptions. Some treatments CAN'T wait 5 days!!
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
More side effects - bad
Mucositis: inflammation of a mucos membrane.
Sounds fairly innocuous, but I can assure you it's not. It started out as a couple sores in the mouth - result of a compromized immune system not able to fight off common viruses.
On Sunday it started to become a real problem. Went to lunch with my brother after a bike ride and had a real problem eating a sandwich because of the pain in my mouth. Got to my mom's and raided her leftover Vicodin. Ate them like candy that night trying to relieve the pain. Marginally helpfull.
Had a Dr. visit anyway the next day. They wrote me a bunch of prescriptions for percocet refills, washes to numb the mouth topically, and stronger anti virals.
Went to work for a couple hours and suffered through 2 hours while I waited for the local pharmacy to fill what they could. At the pharmacy I got a call from the Dr's office. My liver function was elevated so I should NOT take any more percocet which has tylenol in it. They had an Rx for Oxycodone that I would have to swing by the hospital to pick up. Got the prescriptions that were ready at the parmacy and used one of the washes immediately, getting some relief. Made it to the hospital in time to get the Oxy Rx.
Headed over to Bethesda to meet my cousin, and fill the Oxy prescription at a local Giant. When that was filled, I drove over to the restaurant. Parked, downed 3 Oxycodones and used the wash again. Dinner was still painfull to eat, and half way through I went back to the car for another wash.
At home I continued with the meds but had a hard time getting to sleep. Finally went down after 12:30 am.
Today woke up before 6 with my mouth on fire. Absolutely the most discomfort I've had in this entire experience including the 2 surgeries. 8 out of 10 on a pain scale. Hit the wash again, and took more oxycodone. Emailed my Dr's office (she has a Nurse Practicioner) and let them know about my pain. Even with all the meds I was not getting ahead of it. She called me back shortly after 8. Told me to up the dosage of the Oxycodone and continue with the wash. Offered to write an Rx for liquid Morphine if my meds on hand didn't get the job done. It took a while but the meds finally got me a little bit ahead of the pain.
Wound up taking a nap between 2 and 4 pm. Needed the sleep but woke up behind the 8 ball again. Everything had worn off. Started all the pain meds and washes back up and took hours to get enough on board that I felt ahead of it again. Mouth pain is the worst. There have to be tons of sensitive nerves and each one of them felt irritated.
Going back to the Dr. tomorow for blood work. If tomorow morning is anything like today I'll hit the pain meds first thing and have my brother drive me down. At this point I'm eating Oxycodone almost like M&M's and having marginal success dealing with this discomfort. If it is bad tomorow I'll take the Morphine script home and hope that works better until this resolves. They DO have me on stronger anti-virals and another medicated wash to treat this topically as well.
Sounds fairly innocuous, but I can assure you it's not. It started out as a couple sores in the mouth - result of a compromized immune system not able to fight off common viruses.
On Sunday it started to become a real problem. Went to lunch with my brother after a bike ride and had a real problem eating a sandwich because of the pain in my mouth. Got to my mom's and raided her leftover Vicodin. Ate them like candy that night trying to relieve the pain. Marginally helpfull.
Had a Dr. visit anyway the next day. They wrote me a bunch of prescriptions for percocet refills, washes to numb the mouth topically, and stronger anti virals.
Went to work for a couple hours and suffered through 2 hours while I waited for the local pharmacy to fill what they could. At the pharmacy I got a call from the Dr's office. My liver function was elevated so I should NOT take any more percocet which has tylenol in it. They had an Rx for Oxycodone that I would have to swing by the hospital to pick up. Got the prescriptions that were ready at the parmacy and used one of the washes immediately, getting some relief. Made it to the hospital in time to get the Oxy Rx.
Headed over to Bethesda to meet my cousin, and fill the Oxy prescription at a local Giant. When that was filled, I drove over to the restaurant. Parked, downed 3 Oxycodones and used the wash again. Dinner was still painfull to eat, and half way through I went back to the car for another wash.
At home I continued with the meds but had a hard time getting to sleep. Finally went down after 12:30 am.
Today woke up before 6 with my mouth on fire. Absolutely the most discomfort I've had in this entire experience including the 2 surgeries. 8 out of 10 on a pain scale. Hit the wash again, and took more oxycodone. Emailed my Dr's office (she has a Nurse Practicioner) and let them know about my pain. Even with all the meds I was not getting ahead of it. She called me back shortly after 8. Told me to up the dosage of the Oxycodone and continue with the wash. Offered to write an Rx for liquid Morphine if my meds on hand didn't get the job done. It took a while but the meds finally got me a little bit ahead of the pain.
Wound up taking a nap between 2 and 4 pm. Needed the sleep but woke up behind the 8 ball again. Everything had worn off. Started all the pain meds and washes back up and took hours to get enough on board that I felt ahead of it again. Mouth pain is the worst. There have to be tons of sensitive nerves and each one of them felt irritated.
Going back to the Dr. tomorow for blood work. If tomorow morning is anything like today I'll hit the pain meds first thing and have my brother drive me down. At this point I'm eating Oxycodone almost like M&M's and having marginal success dealing with this discomfort. If it is bad tomorow I'll take the Morphine script home and hope that works better until this resolves. They DO have me on stronger anti-virals and another medicated wash to treat this topically as well.
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