My first chemo treatment was 3/21/2019. I have been through three drugs with little to no results, positive or negative. There is no end in sight to treatment.
I have been fighting a bug that has been elevating my white blood counts, resulting in many blood tests. I will get the latest results next week. I am feeling better and seem to be good on Drug A. I'm currently on oral therapy and switching from Drug A to B every two weeks. Drug B was a real downer last week, but either it was something else (elevated white count) or I'll be down again in a week.
I got a bill from the hospital for services rendered in September 2018. Yes, a year and a half ago. Fortunately my share was small. And in paying that one, I found a bill in the system that I haven't seen a hard copy of yet, that isn't in the online system but is dated 01/01/2020 for treatment date. I can tell you that there wasn't any treatment going on that date. I can't get answers until next week when they come back to work.
I continue to stay isolated and try to get essentials by pick up at Walmart. My last order was missing 2/3 of the stuff due to out of stock, but it was nice to get some staples. I have another order in the end of the month at a local grocery store, earliest date I could get there. And Amazon continues to deliver some supplies. I don't go into stores, mostly because it exhausts me too much to shop. When I could get a perfect storm of a close parking spot and an electric cart (necessary if it was a super store) I could shop, but that doesn't happen any more.
I'm grateful to the gift of Audible, which is helping me sleep now. It's easy to fall asleep to a book and restart it the next night to the last place I remember. Thank you Laurie. And I'm grateful to the gremlin that texted me after doing a hit and run on my porch, dropping off homemade pickled beets (a favorite) and a massive cookie. My appetite remains low but treats like these make eating easier.
Bad news is that the cancer marker blood test was much MUCH higher than it's ever been last time we checked. It was rechecked this week but we will likely have to add in a chemo drug if it stays high. We can't do that if the white count is still high. Trade-offs.
It's been more of a vertical drop than a roller coaster ride this year. I started out not getting a port, but had to get one for the second round of chemo with a very caustic drug. I continue to be disappointed in how little the port is used for CTs, blood tests, or injections. Even though we aren't using it for anything now it still needs flushing every 6 weeks. I have been able to get some lidocaine salve to kill the nerve endings, as accessing the port can be more painful than a regular blood test, especially when it's used frequently.
And then there's the coronavirus. There has been virtually no testing in south Texas, so of course there have been virtually no cases detected. Funny how that works. We are finally hearing about tests going in so we may get a better picture in a few weeks. I have been doing social distancing for MONTHS and continue to do so. It's a scary time, please be smart.
