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Update Sept. 26th. to "Houston, We Have A Problem!!"
Update Sept. 26th. to "Houston, We Have A Problem!!" Mornin' All, Wed. Sept. 24th. was Day 28 in my Chemotherapy cycle... You possibly recall from previous notes that so far it's been a "walk in the park"... Last Sat. I went for a "Superwalk" in Stanley Park with several hundred of my Parkinson's colleagues and friends. We walked, we talked, we joked, we laughed, we totally enjoyed the sunny day, the squirrels, the ducks, Lost Lagoon, the swans, the Beaver float planes over head, the hawk, the dogs, the people... I hadn't seen Mark and Tammy for two years... We raised money and awareness for Parkinson's... Lots of folks shook my hand and commented on how well I looked. I certainly felt well. I certainly enjoyed the moment... Well, that's changed... Later on, Sat. Sept. 20th. I sneezed... and doubled over with a stabbing pain in the lower, and rearward, right ribcage... since then it's apt to hurt if I cough, definitely if I sneeze, and there's a persistent dull ache... Tues. Sept. 23rd. I noticed that the vein in my left wrist was swollen and tender to the touch... Remember, Sept. 17th. I wrote " I experience the by now familiar mild burning sensation as the Gemcitabine enters my vein... One hour late, but once more... Piece a'cake!!" Apparently the burning sensation is a sign that the saline : chemo ratio is not correct. Too much Gemcitabine, too little saline burns... It was 10:00 at night so we looked in my trusty 3 Ring Binder and called the Evenings, Weekends, & Statutory Holidays Help LIne... A nurse answered right away, took the information, and said she would page a Dr. and have them call us... Soon a Dr. returned our call, listened to the story, sympathized, and told us little could be done... Wed. Sept. 24th. we went to the cancer clinic early as usual... After the visit to the Lab for bloodwork we saw Dr. Kennecke briefly and showed him the vein in my left wrist. He also sympathized and felt little could be done... My ribs weren't aching at that moment so I forgot to mention the "sneeze" ... Hindsight being 20/20, I shoulda written a reminder memo... We proceeded to the the chemo suite, checked in, Brenda read, I worked on the jigsaw puzzle... Day 28 chemo was the Gemcitabine again and I showed Nurse Franzesca my left wrist... I musta scared the poor lady, she tried three times, unsuccessfully, to insert an IV in my right hand and eventually had to give way to another nurse... This time I watched the drip rate myself and insisted the nurse maintain the saline at 50% or better... This time it did not burn ... Another lesson learned... We went home and arrived there at 15:59 just in time for a 16:00 conference call to the Parkinson's Pipeline Project train the volunteer... As usual chemo had me wired and I barely slept overnight... As usual I was pretty zonked the following day and in spite of big plans got too little done slowly... Late Thursday night Sept. 25th. I sneezed... and discussed the pain in the ribs, and observed that the vein in my left wrist was now swollen and rubbery feelin' right up to my elbow... no redness... no "heat"... no sign of infection... We phoned the Evening Help line again... This time a lady Dr. called back... Try a heating pad and a couple of over the counter anti-inflammatories... and about that rib pain... call your Dr. in the AM and insist something be done... We did all of the above... Friday afternoon I went for Xrays ... my lung... my back... my ribs... Dr. Kennecke thinks I may have a cracked rib... I disagree... How am I feeelin'??? Overall I still feel pretty good... My weight is stable at 'bout 102 kg. or 225 lbs. My blood counts are substantially down, but not unexpected. I still haven't been sick, haven't lost any hair, just a tad tired, my Parkinson's drugs haven't been optimal... My chronic cough is history... just gotta try not to sneeze... Tomorrow I plan to walk on the seawall, visit my in-laws, go to Starbucks, and generally enjoy life... Thank you all once again!! Just do yer very best and keep on smilin'... I am!! cheers ....... Chemo Savvy (murray) * * * read the rest of this thread... "Houston - We Have A Problem..." * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:listserv@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn
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