December 22, 2003, DAY #55
Friends,
Good evening! It has been an interesting weekend! We have remained really busy getting ready for Christmas and our wedding, but we are largely done with all that now, except for last minute preparations. We can finally relax a little bit! As indicated in my last update, a lot of my medicines were cut. Over the weekend, I started getting various rashes. I visited the urgent care center on Saturday, but they didn't think anything was wrong. I was also experiencing some swelling in my feet and ankles (edema). They said that it was caused by the increased dose Norvasc. I have been mediating between doctor's offices and my disability insurance company to try to ensure they are communicating and getting my disability approved. I think if I hadn't done that, my disability would have taken several more months to get approved, and I would probably be bankrupt by then. Fortunately, we are just waiting on the US Mail right now. I know, still kind of scary. But I think that stressor is pretty much out of my life now. Today I parked in a handicapped spot and forgot to put up my placard. When I came out of the store, a police officer was peering into my window. He had seen my placard inside my car and was able to make out the date on it. Whew, didn't need that ticket! The rest of this week should be pretty calm except for the wedding frenzy at the end.
On the medical front, lots going on. My creatinine level is back down to 1.3. Still a little high, but I hope it keeps going down. The rashes from Saturday have spread, and there are at least three types, I think. The nurse practitioner said she didn't think the doctor at urgent care recognized Graft vs Host (GVH) disease. To get rid of the rashes, they increased my Cyclosporine, my predisone and my Celcept. I get to keep taking Celcept for a while, looks like. The real positive thing about the GVH I may be getting right now, as long as it is mild, is that it helps to kill any remaining cancerous stem cells that might be lingering in my bone marrow. That is a VERY positive thing in my book. Hopefully we can get by the GVH permanently. Chronic GVH is a real bummer that I don't want to have to deal with. Other positive news from the doctor, he said I could have Christmas dinner with the rest of the family, I didn't have to wear a mask during my wedding, and he said that I didn't have to wear my mask when driving my car. All nice things! All the blood counts are down today! HBC slipped just below the normal range again. RBC slipped a little too! The overall trend is up though! Next appointment is on Wednesday.
Lab Results |
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Blood Cell Type |
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| WBC | 4.5 | 12.1 | 9.8 | 12.8 | 8.9 |
| RBC | 4.20 | 3.90 | 3.69 | 4.03 | 3.86 |
| HGB | 13.0 | 13.1 | 12.6 | 13.6 | 12.7 |
| PLT | 130 | 227 | 143 | 188 | 172 |
Happy Holidays to EVERYONE!
Ted
tw@wilcoxent.com