Big C Update

I knew even before I went for labs yesterday morning that I'd be sent downtown for a transfusion. Not because of increasing fatigue or a half dozen other symptoms, but because the BABONG BABONG BABONG headaches were back. Tylenol doesn't touch it, and if I drop something on the floor, I just leave it there.

Sure enough, I got the word to head downtown. I stopped at the Villa to let Molly out and to inhale some lunch -- remember: avoid hospital food at all costs! -- and was at the Transfusatorium by 1pm. Except they still didn't have my "Type & Cross" (which was drawn at 10am) and once that's done, it takes at least an hour to get blood... I was looking at a 2-3 hour wait before I even started the transfusion. I decided that my aggravation threshhold had been reached for the day and insisted on coming back the next day (today). So the trip wouldn't be a total waste, I let them draw a second sample for a Type & Cross in case the first one vaporized, and I got a double dose of Aracept - one in each arm. I think this stuff is supposed to help me grow red blood cells. But for some reason, the shots feel like they are given through a rusty, barbed harpoon that's been dipped in vinegar. Because of the size of the dose, I had to get one shot in each arm. Lots of gasping and deep breathing.

I knew I was taxed to my limit so I asked one of my wonderful hoodies, Bill, to drop me off and pick me up and he graciously obliged. Today, I went in at 9:30am and was done at 12:30pm, which was much, much better than the 7-8 hour ordeal I would have endured the day before. I expect to be feeling much better in 24 hours or so, but I don't know how much longer I can keep doing this: the horrible chemo, the transfusions, the nausea, the excruciating shots. When I see Dr. A, I hope I have some very impressive numbers to persuade me to keep going.