Life in CoVid Times

My Doctors appointment with Dr 8f/9 was changed from an office visit to a phone call, or to be accurate, three phone calls.  There was the phone call for billing and registration, the call with the Doctor, and the call to schedule the next appointment.   Still all in all it was worth not driving to Edinburg.  And of course it was a lot easier to maintain social distancing!   I’m feeling better still though my blood work is a mixed bag but generally a little better.   We’re going to maintain the course for a month and recheck.

I got a good load of groceries from Walmart pickup again.   Still no TP, can’t even pretend to put it in the virtual cart, but almost everything else turned up or was acceptably substituted.  3.5 rolls to go before I get worried.  The black grapes from Peru that were substituted are delicious, but very oddly shaped, like long skinny grapes.  They're very sweet and it's a joy to have fruit again.

The hot weather is keeping me down, it’s been nearly 100 most days.  One project has been cancelled (and rightly so) and another is on slowdown, right after I get started on it.  Oh well!   No one has a crystal ball for post-CoVid.  I’m still doing some construction work which involves birding but not human contact.

I'm always looking for streaming options, send suggestions to me at my email or FB messenger.  I'm staying home and looking for distractions, as are most people!

One Year in, Looking Back

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.

Still not right even by recent standards.

I switched drugs after two weeks and had fever, nausea, and exhaustion on the new drug.  I went through a period of violent nausea and ended up with floaters only visible in my low light vision.  I finally got some blood work done Wednesday and met a new Dr (8x or 9?) on Thursday.  My blood work was out of whack so we ended up doing more blood work Thursday (9 tests).  The good news is my hemoglobin recovered a whole point, taking me from marginal (Dr considering transfusion) to fine, this over one day.  Other things stayed out of whack so we're repeating in a week.  The rest aren't back yet.

In the meanwhile I still feel out of energy and at time nauseous.  I'll start back on the first drug tomorrow.  I'm tired and cranky, and appreciate being left alone now.  I'm not up for social interaction.  Thanks.

Fortnight

The last two weeks were the first on the new drug regime - alternating drugs for 2 weeks at a time.  All drugs are oral.  Quite a difference.

So it's five weeks since the last chemo, and I was hoping for more energy as time passes.  I still pant when I walk any distance, and overheat quickly.  And it's getting hotter more regularly here.

Two weeks on Drug 1 with no obvious side effects.  I still had occasional nausea and I still didn't sleep well, though both seemed to improve with time passing from the last chemo treatment.  Two days on Drug 2 and no obvious changes.  That's all good.

I did drive up to see the White Wagtail in Austin yesterday, something like 11 hours driving for an hours birding before I decided to turn around and head home.  Was it worth it?  Um.  I wish I'd been up to carrying both my scope and the chair, but I had to elect one and that was the chair.  The flyby was great, but I couldn't get others on it because I was sitting and they were standing and the perspectives were too far off.  It was a new ABA bird, so one more closer to my 60th birthday target.  I may make it yet.  

Two weeks to the next blood check and Drs appointment.  There won't be a lot of news until then.