Crazy, Good Week...

...

Sunday, I went to Houston mid-day and hung out with the Helms family in their new house.  Had a most fun time and then ate at a scrumptiously yummy place in River Oaks shopping center, Brassierre (Some number...19? 16?)    Wow!  We had a delicious bottle of red, shared some shrimp/grits for appetizer, then all three of us ordered their plate of the day:  a stunning cassoulet!  Loved their new house, which as the crow flies is only about a block from their old one in the Memorial Villages section of Houston.  It even has a secret room behind some bookshelves that open up--how cool is that?!

Monday, realized the MDA scheduler had scheduled my labs after my bone marrow biopsy, but I knew from experience that it has to happen prior to.  Got there a little early.  Went up to the bone marrow section.  They told me to go do labs and then come back and we'd go from there.  The lab on a Monday can be a nightmare, but they've re-organized it and it's not quite so oppressive--and for whatever reason, I was in and out in 15 minutes.  (I've waited 1.5 hours on a Monday before.) 

But it takes about an hour for those results to post and thus, before you can do the biopsy.  (and/or the CT scans, etc.)  So I had to hang out awhile in that waiting room.  And because of a planned gap after that, it really didn't throw me off too much. 

I got complimented on my firm, strong bones by the P.A. giving the biopsy.  I got complimented on my good veins by the RN putting the IV into me for my iodine contrast injection.  (Maybe I should put those in a personal ad!?   Strong bones, great veins seeks same.) 

The woman sitting next to me was duly impressed by my veins too.  She's only 50.  Has a very rare form of cervical cancer.  Was told 2 years ago, she only had a month.  She lives in Dallas and talked about her discovery of it and how it affected her sex life and all that. She's on an experimental treatment that seems to be working very well.  She looks good.  She was turned over to a collection agency for over $2million in bills.  She laughed.  What the hell?  At that point, who cares?  (They're obviously not cutting her off, because they need her for the study....but still, $2 million!  Yikes! She has to go down there every Monday for treatment--and every 3rd week is an extra day of scans and doctor visit, etc.)  It was a funny, forty-five minute, bonding type conversation between two people in big green vinyl recliners, wearing scrubs, drinking differently flavored bottles of barium, who'll likely never see each other again.

Treated myself to a Goode's Taqueria Hamburger and Onion Rings (on Kirby) since I hadn't eaten all day.... and took the opportunity to use their bathroom to blast out another round of barium before the i-10 traffic and the long ride home.  Got home about 9pm.

(Listened to two old favorites on the trip:  All That Jazz  on the way down, and The Wiz  on the way back.)

Was fairly spacey the next day at work, but got through it just fine.  It was a crazy day.  But then got caught up by the time I left last night. 

Had a loud, long 3 inches of rain storm the other night.  Kitty was a mess.  (He hates thunder and this was some thunder!)

Trying to read my book for bookclub next week, but keep falling asleep--not from the book, but from the week, etc. 

Today drove back down to Houston, for a grand total of 10 minutes facetime with the nurse, P.A., and doctor, because there was nothing to report.  Still all clear.  Still in remission.  Keep doing what you're doing.  

Was pleased with that.  Very!

Had been über-spacey all day long... almost like chemo-brain, spacey.  Not remembering things that had happened a few minutes ago, etc.  Today, I got home about 6:45.  Today, I'm tired.  Today I'm over this blogging site where I hit the wrong thing 3 times in a row because of where shift v. control is on my keyboard versus my keyboard at work....  and it's deleted whole sections of this post 3 times....and I keep putting things in all dyslexic style, scrambled and such... 

But what I was going to say, but I don't remember where exactly is that the PA looked at the place that my dentist got all excited about last fall and then looked back at my scans since 2008 and says it's a cyst, which reminded me that after previous MRI or CT or whatever in 2001, the neurologist commented on the cyst in my sinuses and said most Austinites have them because of the allergens.  The PA said it can't be an abcess.  Also my white blood count was 3900 today--highest ever since starting chemo and all that.  Is it the astragulus and echinecea I've been taking for 6 weeks now to keep from getting sick in an office where germs fly around all day--from customers and other employees with colds, etc?  (We have anti-bacterial stuff on every desk and on the counters and everywhere, which also helps!)  We'll see! 

(Guy with great WBC and long-time sinus cyst seeks same.)

I haven't decided for sure, but I think I'm stopping MDA, and just using my Austin oncologist from this point forward.  If it were to get bad again, I could always go back.  But it's not going to get bad again.  I'm tired of all that travel, preparation, etc.  Days off, expense, etc. 

Yet, there is something in that community that I will miss...(see story of woman in scrubs above)

And they sure do a smooooooth bone marrow biopsy.  Almost a massage!

But still. 

Right now I'm going to go try to read my book.  It's already late and I'll likely be falling asleep over it...  I hadn't intended to take this long posting and blogging and such...

No time for editing...  we're goin' live!


Cheers!
,m