5/20/16

Yesterday's scheduled visit to the cancer center was the second in a week.  About two weeks ago, I developed a tight, dry cough.  I'd have 10- to 15-minute spasms during the night that woke me (and Mohamed) and that, day or night, led to terrible headaches.  Last Friday morning I called Dr. Hashmi's nurse.  She called back at 3:45 and asked that I come in for blood work and lung x-rays.  Luckily, we were already in the car; a trip to Starbuck's was diverted, and we arrived at the cancer center before the labs closed at 4:15.  The techs weren't pleased that it had taken the nurse so long to call me back and try to schedule something, but I was rushed for the tests and made it on time.  The cancer center was dark inside, and the weather outside was dark as well with rain and hail. 

Although the tests got done and the techs said that the results would be read within 30 minutes, no one called back on that Friday afternoon.  By the next day, however, the results were posted on Mychart, a feature that the center here uses much more efficiently than KU Med did.  The lung results were good with no anomalies, as was the blood work.

Yesterday we met with Dr. Hashmi about the cough, the headaches, and a lowered but still persistent level of nausea.  He prescribed a cough suppressant with codeine.  I took it before bed last night, but still had a bout of coughing.  I went downstairs at 6 this morning and took another dose.  That seems to have calmed the coughing, though it's made me both tired and spacy.  I guess that's to be expected with codeine.  I'm torn between taking it again during the day, hoping that the cough will stay suppressed but risking a day of incoherence, and just waiting till tonight before bed.  Dr. Hashmi also changed the anti-nausea medication, so I hope the new one will be more effective.

And that's the latest in the world of Howard's health.

5/5/16

Yesterday was the tenth and last radiation treatment.  Even though the treatments themselves aren't difficult, it's good to have them over--and even better to have a significant reduction in back pain.  Unlike the earlier three rounds, this time there were more pronounced side effects, especially nausea, diarrhea, and loss of appetite.  Since the area of the spine being treated is behind the intestines, the radiologist predicted that these symptoms would be worse than before as some of the radiation would inadvertently reach my innards.  Tuesday was particularly bad, and even yesterday I was unable to eat lunch.  Now we'll hope that the pain doesn't return.  We see the oncologist two weeks from today, but that's just for blood work and a consultation.  Six weeks after that, I'll have CT scans again to see whether any other trouble spots have developed.

Yesterday afternoon a friend and ex-colleague came over for a nice visit.  She had written the first draft of a novel about her two years in the Peace Corps in Niger, and I had been one of her editing readers.  In the evening, we took my long-time friend, colleague, and co-writer, Virginia, out to a birthday dinner with her sister and brother-in-law.  I made up for my lunch-time fasting by eating calamari, a salad, and poached salmon--my biggest meal in a long time.

Socializing is always good, but by 10:15 I had suddenly run out of energy and barely made my way to bed.