7-12
After
several weeks of trying to return my life to normal the stuff that
the chemo people warned me about has finally come to pass. A loss of
strength, energy and a general feeling of malaise. This past week I
have slept more than I can remember since I don't know when. Without
being too graphic Monday was just horrible and the rest of the week
has been playing catch up. Friday was a clinic day that started with
labs. I was more than a bit dehydrated and I was afraid that the
blood draw was going to be a battle. The vampires in the lab are
professionals though and had success on the second stab. Of course
they also handed me two containers to fill with urine and they're
still waiting on that. One of the clinics I had to see was Nuclear
Medicine and I had to be fasting for that. Since I was still feeling
nauseated the fasting didn't really bother me so much but it added to
the general feeling of weakness and the dehydration level. The only
good part of the visit was after the nurse had injected me with some
dangerous looking stuff I was allowed to take a short nap all while
being covered in very warm blankets. I realize that it's summer and
everyone wants the AC on but the average temp in there is around 72
and I know that I'm not the only one in there that was wanting
something to keep warm. Most of the nurses had a sweater and I
usually have mine but when you leave the house and the outside temp
is nearing 90 with predictions for 100 it doesn't really occur to you
to grab your sweater. We keep our thermostat at the house set on 79
and there are times I even have a sweater on there but I know that's
just my internal thermostat going crazy again. Maybe someone ( one of
the doctors there maybe?) should remind them that going in and out of
a cool building and into the heat isn't very conducive to good
health.
The visit
to Nuclear Med clinic was a bit weird and I almost felt like I was on
a set from some sci-fi movie. The nurse spoke with a what I believed
to be a heavy Hungarian accent. ( I wasn't about to ask, she had
needles and I was too weak to put up much of a fight anyway.) After
she started the IV she left the room and came back with a box
approximately 12 inches long and about 5 wide and 5 tall. She set it
down and by the way she handled it I could tell it was very heavy. It turns out it
was lead lined as was the syringe she pulled out of
this box. This syringe was almost two inches in diameter although it
was mostly just lead shielding. Then she injected me with this stuff
which I almost expected some weird science experiment to transform me
into something. Exactly what I'm sure I don't know. Even my
imagination has a hard time coming up with what to do with a 6'9”
skinny toothless old guy. The only thing still functioning worth a
darn in me is my brain and there are more than one person lately that
would debate that. ( And probably many more that have always debated
it. ) As I said earlier then she wrapped me up and I got a nap. Then
on to the torture chamber. Actually it was the PET scan machine but
my right shoulder has a knot in it and when they had me lift my arms
over my head to get me in position for the scan it felt more like I
had a knife stuck in below my shoulder blade trying to come out at my
shoulder. The technician said it would take 20 minutes and when he
came on the intercom and said “ Nine more minutes” I wasn't sure
I was going to make it. When they finally pulled me out of the tube I
had to take my left arm and lift my right arm back down. Then they
had one more to do but luckily my arms didn't have to be up for this
one. Needless to say by the time I got out of there I was wiped out.
I hadn't had anything to eat all day and very little to drink. I
wasn't sure I would hold anything down so I waited till I got home to
try. When I did sit down at the house I took one can and a big glass
of water and let that sit for a while. Finally later that evening I
was able to take two cans. For those of you that haven't been
following right now nearly my only source of nutrition is from
pouring two 8 oz. cans of liquid, similar to Boost, into a tube
inserted into my stomach. I am able to eat some things by mouth but
it has to be the consistency of baby food.
Monday I
go to see my primary care Dr. and Wednesday I go back to the ENT
clinic and I'm supposed to get the results of the PET scan so I'll
sign off for now and let y'all know how all of this goes next week.
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