I woke up as usual this morning early, about 7am. Done my usual one cough of puss and blood and felt pretty decent. Now that I put a new filter in the cool mist humidifier and the warm mist humidifier ran all night, not nearly as painful or dry in the throat area. I brushed my teeth. I do that several times a day and even with that it has taken it's toll on my gums, even my bridges are beginning to loosen. The tooth I broke yesterday is still hanging on and I am pretty sure it is alive because there is some pain coming from it. Now I find it funny that I am afraid of the pain after going through this so far, but God help me I am. I guess I'm just so tired of hurting. I've got the preps.
Me and Denise finished our Christmas shopping today. Not exactly in the conventional way, but we got it done right up until the last present, her cell phone went dead. It still turned out good. She knew what she wanted to get her family and I shopped online at local stores telling her what I was looking at. I'm still neutropenic, that is the word I have probably misspelled many times, lol. I'm not sure since I left the hospital how mine is right now, but I will assume since I feel better, better. I can write this now since Denise has already got it, but that is the way I got her present. It wasn't the exact watch I was looking at, but it was one of the two. Me and Annie worked like that yesterday as a team to get Denise's and Beulah's, plus the new filter for the humidifier. It, in spite of the slight difference on 1 item worked so well that me and Denise done it that way.
My hat's off to Denise. She has done everything and has done it so great. She is reading this right now and said she didn't see me in that car today, where'd the we come from, lol. Then again... it was my brainstorm to do it like this, lol.
One thing I didn't put yesterday was that I tried some of the Blue Emu oil throughout the day. It lasts longer, burns about the same on the application, yet I don't know if it heals the same. We are low on the radiation creme and I think the only place to get it is at the radiologist's office, so I thought it worth a try. I had read some pretty good comments on a throat radiation board about it and a couple of other things. When my bath is done tonight Denise will clean and dress my throat with the radiation creme. I'm a bit worried still about it being ready by Monday but it seems to be healing fast, just hope it is fast enough.
No Morphine so far today, the pain patch have kept it under control. Before the bath though I'll take a 15 mg and by the time I'm done it should have kicked in. That is less than 1/2 we used at the hospital and while the healing is responsible mostly for the drop, there is still a lot of pain associated with the treatment. I don't like the effects at 15 and definitely don't at a higher dose, I can take the 10-15 minutes of pain better. Plus with higher dose I get those blank moments or crazy thoughts and moments, even afterward not knowing what I said or was saying in the middle of a sentence. I call them brain farts, lol.
I woke up and kept my 197 lbs! No loss last night. Today I have ate 4 sugar cookies, 2 Ensures, and I'm on my 4th Coke. I also ate 1/2 Pimento sandwich and 1/2 a Chicken Salad sandwich. If I can stay awake I'll add to that so maybe I can slowly turn this stuff around. The hardest thing to do is drink the Coke, I hate then taste of soft drinks. I know that can't last though as with 17-18 more treatments left my throat will become too raw again. My preference these days is water and some tea.
Last few day a weird thing that is getting more frequent is taking place. I get those fast, out of nowhere tired spells. I couldn't fight them off for a long time but as chemo went farther away I could, and still can. Now a strange muscle jerk occurs usually in my arms, hands, feet, or neck. The longer I fight the fatigue the worse they get and I kinda like dose off for a second, maybe zone out is a better term. I've decided to lay still and not fight them too much. It isn't painful... just weird. I could have probably gotten more eaten today if I could stay awake. If the fatigue hits with a chill, when I lay down I go back out like a light and unless I do one of those muscle jerks, I'm asleep. One of my cousins came to visit and one of my friends and both times I was out of it. Such a pretty day too, not that I could do anything, it's just nice to look out. I've spoken with both BB and Andy and they understood. Thanks guys.
I'll probably blog tomorrow since I can't be around everybody. It sounds kind of sad in a way because it is one of the few times we get together. Then again... it could have been worse. Maybe next year. All thosen who are reading this. I wish you a Merry Christmas.
4 comments:
Hi, Anthony, it's Nosey Nellie again :)...just wondering about the pain patch and taking the hot bath. I've heard that if you do that, it will release more of the medication into your system (the heat and opening of your pores). Just curious so I can tell others, if so, it could be a cause of your new "fatigue," if the timing is related to the hot soaks. I hope you have a good day tomorrow. I got "fired" by a cancer patient this week because his wife didn't think we were doing enough fast enough. Very sad. Oncology had not told them what to expect or how sick he was, and as primary care we were just there following his vitals, managing his pain, etc... caught in the middle.
No, my fatigue is usually during the mornings and during the day more than any. I always take my baths at night. I'm usually pretty decent and awake at night. I am more relaxed but not fatigued after the bath but I usually take 15mg of Morphine right before taking a long bath so that it will take effect before Denise starts cleaning and dressing my neck.
I didn't know that it would do that though. It doesn't seem to have the effect with me but then again I am suppose to be taking Morphine even 4 hours I think in addition, but I don't. I just take it before Denise cleans and treats my throat. The pain still comes through in leaps and bounds, but I don't like the Morphine.
It is something important to remember though in case it works on others than way. That could be dangerous.
There is no way anybody can do anything fast enough. It is a shame that your patient didn't realize that. If her husband is like I am, he has a few people taking care of him, each have their own job to do and each rely on the others info. Each specialize in an area and for us, I and or my wife ask a lot of questions to everybody involved.
As for my primary care doctor, he missed it. Again, this type is hard to spot so no fault on his part. I've still enough confidence in him that I have taken my kids to him with confidence and still do even now. I would not expect my primary care doctor to be able to answer my Oncology questions, that is their department. Is he smart enough, sure, but he isn't the one working on me in that department. I think your patient made a big mistake in firing you. Just my opinion.
Tonight I took another hot bath, maybe the hottest yet and I stayed an extended length of time. The pain in my abscessed tooth went away and I started feeling funny. I quickly jumped out of the bath and cooled off.
Thank you so much for the heads up on the pain patch and taking hot baths. I believe you just saved me from an O.D.
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