No post yesterday, largely because I had nothing to say. For the record, yesterday's counts were
- Platelets: 18,000
- Hemoglobin: 8.2
- White Cells: 4.2
Not nearly the improvement I'd hoped for.
And the fatigue continued. But, I'd attribute that more to a terrible prior night's sleep that resulted from a bad time waiting for a platelet transfusion.
Without going into details, suffice it to say that we waited 9 hours for the platelets to show up, and by the time they did I'd gotten impatient and pissed off enough to raise both my blood pressure and heart rate to ridiculous highs.
The adventure did illustrate perfectly how anxiety and anger have direct effects on one's vital functions. It also made me wonder how my father lived to be 90. He could "get his panties in a bunch" without much provocation.
Me, it takes a lot to get me going. And, when I woke up the next morning, I was still annoyed. The good news: I've discovered that watching meaningless spring training baseball on TV pacifies, distracts and relaxes.
No blood counts yet for today. Will report them later.
And the fatigue continued. But, I'd attribute that more to a terrible prior night's sleep that resulted from a bad time waiting for a platelet transfusion.
Without going into details, suffice it to say that we waited 9 hours for the platelets to show up, and by the time they did I'd gotten impatient and pissed off enough to raise both my blood pressure and heart rate to ridiculous highs.
The adventure did illustrate perfectly how anxiety and anger have direct effects on one's vital functions. It also made me wonder how my father lived to be 90. He could "get his panties in a bunch" without much provocation.
Me, it takes a lot to get me going. And, when I woke up the next morning, I was still annoyed. The good news: I've discovered that watching meaningless spring training baseball on TV pacifies, distracts and relaxes.
No blood counts yet for today. Will report them later.
Posts
Mitch, sometimes you gotta go with what you've got, and just get through the next hour. Spring training baseball certainly isn't the most exhilarating pastime, but I imagine you sopped it up. As I read about your having to wait 9 hours for the platelets, I knew that in your place I'd have been livid. Thanks to you, I have filed away a strategy to keep me pacified, distracted and relaxed when I am next a patient in a hospital.
ReplyDeleteKeep teaching us, Mitch!
Mitch - A alerted an SATW colleague of ours to your situation because he went through something similar last year. He sent me this message and asked me to post it for him -- so I am. - Claire
ReplyDeleteFrom Jeff Miller:
Dear Claire,
I just went on Mitch's blog and tried to post the message below but it asked me to decide on my account (?) so I thought it best to send this to you and you can forward it to Mitch. Thanks, Jeff
Dear Mitch,
I'm a friend of Claire Walter's and an SATW member. She wrote and told me what you're going through. I just wanted to lend my support -- on Feb. 17, 2009 I was diagnosed with stage 4 throat cancer. Went through surgery, 7 weeks of daily radiation and months of chemo. Couldn't eat or drink a thing for nearly 4 months (stomach tube kept me alive). And, happily, I'm here to say that I'm cancer free and slowly returning to a normal life. Good luck with your journey. Glad to see your blog -- I was at mylifeline.org/jeffmiller. The best advice I can give (while not knowing a thing about your specific cancer) is that you need to alert doctors to every side effect immediately. There is so much they can do to mitigate side effects -- don't suffer in silence! Regards, Jeff Miller P.S. I'm in australia right now but when I get back March 17 I'll take the time to look through your whole blog. I can be reached at jbmwriter@aol.com and my website is jbmwriter.com