Update time as I had my post liver histotripsy follow up with my surgical oncologist this morning. It was last Friday and took place during the week of my third chemo treatment. Been a rough few days. But, a few things have been moments of good news in there, which I'll get back to in a bit. As for the histotripsy, things went well on their end. Except, that is, when I came out of anesthesia. One of the side effects of my chemo meds is chest pain that is extremely reminiscent of my previous four myocardial infarction pains. They are now getting fewer and farther apart, but I had one of those times as I was waking up. Hospital staff act differently when you tell them it feels like you're having a heart attack, by the way. Even when you tell them, nonchalantly, what's going on. Who knew? Anyways, this resulted in my staying a few hours longer than anticipated for observation, but finding nothing by labs or by scans, they released me in the evening so I didn't need to spend the night.
The weekend, and most of the last eight days, really, have been spent dealing with the side effects of both in one way or another. Short list of those are acid reflux, insomnia, diaphragm pain, abdominal cramps, dysesthesia (which is increasing after each treatment, along with other neuropathy), cancer-related cognitive impairment (which wasn't as bad this time 'round, kinda like fatigue which I pretty much skipped this time). And, my beard is starting to thin. Almost all of those are finally starting to subside, just in time for another iron infusion tomorrow. Speaking of iron, my HGB is listed below. Remember: 12 to 14 g/dL is normal.
01/17/25 - 9.8 g/dL
02/04/25 - 8 g/dL
02/18/25 - 7.7 g/dL
03/04/25 - 10 g/dL
03/10/25 - 11.4 g/dL
It's now almost back to low normal!!! This is one of those pieces of good news that I mentioned earlier. My
RBC is increasing and my
WBC is mid-level normal, even after three rounds of chemo. More good news! My veins are starting to roll and my skin is now a bit to loose, though, so am grateful I have a
chemo port with all the blood draws and infusions I'm getting.
And, yes, my pancreas is doing just fine, as well. My lipase numbers are on the low end of normal, but still normal. Blood calcium is low, but stable and no one seems concerned about that.
Part of the delay in noding my health is that I'm not sure what is too much, be it depressing or triggering to either author or reader. Some days are heavier than others. Still trying to find that balance, especially considering many of the things I've touched on here truly do deserve their own writeups. I do keep noding, even if I have to do it a bit differently and slower than I have in the last year and a half or so, so let me know the good, the bad, and the ugly about my change in approach, if you even notice. Been doing more nodeshelling and softlinking lately as it requires less energy, and still helps the nodegel, as I understand things.
The big whammy this week was finding out all of my PTO has been used for the year already. Ultimately, this means I may have to go on temporary disability way earlier than anticipated. After chemo, I have chemo radiation. After that, I get reassessed for cardiac bypass surgery to see if it needs to be done before any required cancer surgery. My dance card is fairly full for the rest of 2025, barring whatever may pop up on my bingo card, with diminishing funds in the coffers, right when my medicals bill payments are just starting to be asked for. Should be near my deductible for the year, but there's still what has come as well as co-pays and items not covered. Really want (need?) a general practitioner and nutritionist, too, to help stay/get healthy and navigate interactions. Time will tell if I need to start a GoFundMe or not. Decisions, decisions. Fortunately, I have an extra week between chemo treatments this time around and can spend some energy and brainpower on sorting some of this out without needing those resources to push through the healing.
Okay, what else? Oh, one of the books on my wish list was available today at the book exchange at Texas Oncology, so the Universe provided me the first item from my list and I thank it whole heartedly. Can anyone say, More good news? I can! The book is Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus. Haven't read for fun in a few years, and haven't read to review in over 40 years. Can't wait to get started!
Speaking of good news, I recently won an auction on shopgoodwill.com for an older computer (SFF PC Dell Optiplex 990 WiFi Intel i5 3.1GHz 4GB RAM 500GB HDD) that already has Linux Mint 22.1 installed on it. Got it yesterday! Haven't ever worked with Linux, really, but back in the early nineties, I did do some stuff with Unix over telnet. I know, entry level Linux distro, but with my attention span being about as long as the word "span", that's okay. I can also write, or modify, any scripts I might want and can't find. I do need some cables and a mouse, and probably power adapter and cords for an older Raspberry Pi, too, that I won in another auction a while back, plus some reference books, but have convinced the housemate to let me hook it up to his television as a media server as I collect more pieces for that ever-coveted homelab. This is good news in more ways than one as I see it as my brain has accepted that I'm going to get through my health challenges and have something to look forward to. Future plans can be a side effect of hope. Now, need that home network book to get here, it is already on its way.
Lost track on what else I was going to go on about, so I'll see whoever's here next time! Wishing each and every one of y'all peace and love, understanding and compassion, especially in our turbulent times.
Posted this Sweetmorn, the 71st day of Chaos in the YOLD 3191.