this time for results of last week's blood work and CT scan. The facility looked more crowded than usual, and our wait was longer, but we assumed it was because of doubling up from the coming two weeks of holidays. In our case, though, the wait was special. A couple of weeks ago, we had the worst winter weather of the past semester years, and Dr. Hashmi,, working his way tenderly over the snow, had fallen and broken his right arm. So his Physician Assistant was working her shift and then in charge of the computer on his shift.
Mohamed and I are focused on the many problems and pains. Dr. Hashmi was focused on the big picture. Although there's nothing new here, he was wide-eyed over the fact that I am well into my sixth years with the stage four cancer and the chemotherapy. "It's not that I'm minimizing your pain," he said, though it was exactly that that it felt as if he were doing, "but after all this time, the results are stable. There's absolutely no growth in the cancers. Most of the people I treat with Votrient, are 'miserable' after a short period of time, and we have to move on to something else." So that was the good news: concerning the cancer, much has remained the same for all this time.
That's good news, of course,, but I still couldn't help worrying about the symptoms that remain. I had lost 10# since the last visit. That doesn't bother me too much, since the nausea has generally subsided. I don't have a huge appetite, true, but I eat rather consistently. The most serious for me, though, aren't the constant pains and the debilitating fatigue. So we're adjusting the morphine (doubling the dosage0 and will continue with the Percocet. We'll see how that works out. And of course, there are two further side effects. The increase in opioids means an increase in constipation. And second, does this mean that there will be an increase in fatigue? Yes certainly to the latter. Is there nothing we can do about fatigue. Those discussions have always centered on transfusions. With a low hemoglobin and/or or, fatigue follows, and transfusions can do a lot to supply energy. This time, however, without a second thought, both Dr. Hasmi and Ginger said "Ritalin." So Ritalin us used to provide energy, a logical solution, though we'd never thought of it. If after all these years something a common as Ritalin helps significantly, I'm going to be plenty pissed (and relieved).
Looking forward to:
Portland friends Joanne and Darrell sent two dozen oysters, which arrived yesterday and which I'm looking forward to eat tonight. I never was very good at sharing oysters.
L.A. friend Jill sent a lovely gift basket of wine, cheese, crackers, soup--all ready for exploration.
K.C. friend T.J., whom we haven't seen in some time is coming in for lunch today, and tomorrow it's Scott, also from KC.
Our social life is improving.
Happy Hanukkah. Merry Christmas! And all the best of 2017!!
Love,
Howard and Mohamed
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Friday, December 16, 2016
politics and prose--proofread finally
So much has happened over the last two months, so much left without commentary. Surely I can do better than that.
Clinton Comey
Cozy Bear
Conway Bannon
A snuggling pair.
An homage to what seemed like high art and wit 60 years ago:
Trump Trump
The magical suit
The more you listen
The more you toot.
Goldman Sachs
225K a pop
Advice benign
Why should she stop?
Over our head
Whatever she said
It's something we've heard
I'm so reassured.
Perhaps we'd be better off with Mike Pence:
First agenda item defund planned parenthood
That'll teach them it's no errant good
Reparative therapy for sinful gays
We can turn them from their awful ways.
No beautiful wall with President Pence
Just a pretty but restrictive fence.
Several months ago, I heard President Carter say that between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, he'd rather the Democratic candidate ran again Trump because Cruz is an ideologue and Trump is more "malleable." It was a dear, sweet, half-formed thought. It would be nice if only those influencing Trump were progressive, though Lewandowski, Manafort,, Conway, and Bannon were hardly promising). And now the malleable Trump has surrounded himself with one advisor more frightening than the rest.. In the short-run, conspiracy theorist Gen Michael Flynn is probably the scariest. In the longer run, Energy Secretary-nominee Rick Perrry (let's just hope he forgets to remember which agency he wants to eliminate) and all the anti-Environmentalists at EPA are even more alarming. As someone who spent his entire life in public education, I can't help but cringe at Amway heiress Betsy DeVos,, who has never spent a day in public education and who hates neighborhood schools, as Secretary of Education.
I can't help but enjoy the parade of self-deluded "moderate" Republicans making fools of themselves--Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Chris Christie (aka, the Whore of Trenton). But what was with Al Gore, who was practically schoolgirl giddy after his meeting, as if he had gotten major concessions from Trump--just before Trump nominated his let's abolish the EPA candidate to head the EPA.
The last few weeks have been rather bumpy health-wise. There've been a couple of previously unscheduled doctors' visits. For three weeks, I've had a severe earache. The first nurse practitioner said that it was the Eustachian tube, and we'd have to treat it through the nose, a treatment that causes nose bleeds, something I don't want since it leads to the ER and balloon or tampon up the nose for several days. A week later, another suggested treating it as a nasal infection. We're tr\ying that without much success. And then there was a pinched nerve in the neck--also very painful. We took two weeks off from chemo, trying not very successfully to balance constipation from the opioids and diarrhea from the chemo. We had blood work and CT scans this week, and next week there is a consultation with Dr. Hashmi.
And so it goes.
Clinton Comey
Cozy Bear
Conway Bannon
A snuggling pair.
An homage to what seemed like high art and wit 60 years ago:
Trump Trump
The magical suit
The more you listen
The more you toot.
Goldman Sachs
225K a pop
Advice benign
Why should she stop?
Over our head
Whatever she said
It's something we've heard
I'm so reassured.
Perhaps we'd be better off with Mike Pence:
First agenda item defund planned parenthood
That'll teach them it's no errant good
Reparative therapy for sinful gays
We can turn them from their awful ways.
No beautiful wall with President Pence
Just a pretty but restrictive fence.
Several months ago, I heard President Carter say that between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, he'd rather the Democratic candidate ran again Trump because Cruz is an ideologue and Trump is more "malleable." It was a dear, sweet, half-formed thought. It would be nice if only those influencing Trump were progressive, though Lewandowski, Manafort,, Conway, and Bannon were hardly promising). And now the malleable Trump has surrounded himself with one advisor more frightening than the rest.. In the short-run, conspiracy theorist Gen Michael Flynn is probably the scariest. In the longer run, Energy Secretary-nominee Rick Perrry (let's just hope he forgets to remember which agency he wants to eliminate) and all the anti-Environmentalists at EPA are even more alarming. As someone who spent his entire life in public education, I can't help but cringe at Amway heiress Betsy DeVos,, who has never spent a day in public education and who hates neighborhood schools, as Secretary of Education.
I can't help but enjoy the parade of self-deluded "moderate" Republicans making fools of themselves--Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Chris Christie (aka, the Whore of Trenton). But what was with Al Gore, who was practically schoolgirl giddy after his meeting, as if he had gotten major concessions from Trump--just before Trump nominated his let's abolish the EPA candidate to head the EPA.
The last few weeks have been rather bumpy health-wise. There've been a couple of previously unscheduled doctors' visits. For three weeks, I've had a severe earache. The first nurse practitioner said that it was the Eustachian tube, and we'd have to treat it through the nose, a treatment that causes nose bleeds, something I don't want since it leads to the ER and balloon or tampon up the nose for several days. A week later, another suggested treating it as a nasal infection. We're tr\ying that without much success. And then there was a pinched nerve in the neck--also very painful. We took two weeks off from chemo, trying not very successfully to balance constipation from the opioids and diarrhea from the chemo. We had blood work and CT scans this week, and next week there is a consultation with Dr. Hashmi.
And so it goes.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)