Ups & Downs

Where to begin...? I haven't been on here in a few days again so I have to stop and think what has all occurred.

Back to my birthday I guess.
Immediately upon entering the clinic the women at the front desk were wishing me a happy day. Then, as I'm walking back to the chemo room, Liz is on the loudspeaker announcing it's my birthday and singing "Happy Birthday" in her Marilyn Monroe voice. Every one of the nurses is there to wish me well. My chemo chair already has balloons and a stuffed teddy bear from my friend Deb sitting on it. After seeing Dr K I came back to my chemo chair and here sits my friend, Fay! She came bearing balloons and my b-day presents from Brian. (I came to find out later that she was a fill-in for Santa who was supposed to bring my presents but couldn't make it early enough in the day.) Debbie and Lizzie also came to visit me with a purple poinsetta and a gift bag of treats! The nurses gave me a cupcake with a candle in it and handed out cupcakes to all the other patients and visitors as well. After all that excitement I did manage to get a short nap in. Then KB arrived to haul me and my piles of goodies away. She swung by the hospital with me for a blood draw and then carted me home.

That night was Brian's work party which I managed to attend for a while, thanks to the benefits of the steroids. I caught a ride home early with another couple that was leaving and as we rounded one corner in my neighborhood I spotted a cut out wooden donkey attached to a stop sign. I immediately knew something was up!! You see, when we were in Mexico last March, Brian and Ed rode donkeys up into the hills on one of the exursions they went on. Donkeys have been a running joke between us ever since. Sure enough, we pull in the drive way and here is an elaborate set-up of "The Ski Donkey Express" with a sleigh full of Santa and his chihuahua and empty beer cases and cans, being pulled by six more of these cut out donkeys. (Over the course of the next day or two Brian found four more donkeys hidden around the yard.) So that was the kicker for my birthday. I wanted to call Brian and tell him to come home right away! This one is going to be hard to top!!

Saturday was an all-day affair with my blood transfusion, but I did manage to stop in at my company's holiday party too, just long enough to say hello. I know I missed some folks, and I felt badly, but that was a long time on my feet and I was wiped out. But still, we did manage to then enjoy dinner out with a group of 4 other couples. It was a mellow evening but oh so worth it to be together with everyone. More hearty laughter to wear me out further. On Sunday I slept until 4pm! I knew the chemo and activity would catch up with me eventually.

On Monday we received the VERY good news that my tumor marker dropped another 500 points!! That was totally unexpected and was received like a belated birthday gift. If only the way I feel could reflect that number. Having peaked at one point at 5000 (we weren't even aware it had gone that high) I am now hovering at around 1000. This is great progress!!

My latest "issue" is a problem with swallowing and having my breath catch. It's like something is constricting in my chest and now allowing things to function properly. So I saw Dr Sokhi yesterday right away and he's going to send a scope down my throat next Wed. Today, however, we did a chest CT to see if that showed an obvious problem. What we found was not at all what we were looking for. It turns out I have fluid built up around my lungs. This can be a side effect of the daily shots I've been receivng for my platelets. So while this is not good news, it is very good that we found it so early and, once again, purely by chance. Obviously there will be no more of that injection for me and they have me on a prescription for fluid reduction anyway so we've just increased the dosage. Is the fluid around the lungs related to the 'catch' in my breathing/swallowing? We don't know that yet. We'll see what the scope shows next week and see if there's any improvement with stopping the injections.

Sadly, I'm going to miss the Viking/Packers game tonight. It's just too much for me to take on today. Brian is going with his brother instead. I know they'll have a good time, but I don't know that I can count on Dale to cheer for the Vikings for me!

Time to go push some more fluids and pop some more pills. I have no idea what tomorrow will bring at the clinic...labs, yes. Treatment? Hard to say. Eventually I'll get back on here and let you know how it's all going.