Yesterday was probably the hardest day I've ever had to face since this all started. I felt the ill effects of the Benedryl and Ambien working against me all day. I could hardly walk to the bathroom. I felt extremely groggy and fatiqued. My appetite wasn't affected fortunately, as I did keep eating pretty good throughout the day. I'm sure some of that was the Predisone helping, but either way, I knew I had to eat to get my energy levels back to a liveable level. There were times I would be laying on the couch and I couldn't even lift my head, I was so tired. I didn't nap at all during the day for fear of not being able to sleep last night. Instead of the Benedryl, I just took my regular dose of Ambien and went to sleep. I slept from about 11pm to 5am. I'm awake now, but I don't feel as weak as I did yesterday thankfully. Hopefully, my strength will continue to return as the hours go by today.
I'd also like to thank Darlene for all the wonderful things she's made in the last few weeks for me. The cupcakes were my favorite and are now gone, and the cookies have been wonderful too. Thank you very much for those! Sweet things typically aren't tasting good right now, but those cupcakes went down so good!
Today is my last day on my evil nemesis drug, Predisone. They're telling me that once I stop taking it, my body will likely crash a day or two later, but that is normal and it's time for my body to start working for itself again. I'm not looking forward to that, but I am looking forward to just being off of the drug itself, and feeling a little more normal and not so emotional all the time. It'll be nice not to have the urge to cry all the time! Damn drug has made me crazy! But all that ends today!
Tomorrow, we venture back to Chicago for my big day. We have to be there early around 7am...ack. I'll be getting a bone marrow biopsy to see if my treatment has sent my Leukemia into remission, and that new, cancer free cells have started to grow on their own. I'll probably be getting a blood transfusion as well, depending on what the labs say for my blood levels. And lastly, they'll be doing a spinal tap with chemo as well, but we believe that is all. We don't think (according to my schedule of stuff) that I'll be getting the regular 'Monday regimen of chemo'....just the spinal tap only. But we will see tomorrow. Unfortunatley, the results from the bone marrow biopsy (the one test we're the most interested in) won't be in for a few days afterward, as it takes 2-3 days to determine the results. We have to keep in mind that the last biopsy I had showed no Leukemia cells, which was great news, so there shouldn't be any reason why the new biopsy should say anything different. We're just hoping that new, cancer-free cell growth has started where the Leukemia was. If that's the outcome this week, I'll be able to say my cancer is in remission, and that's big.
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Sunday, February 22, 2009
Day 31: A Better Day
Yesterday was probably the hardest day I've ever had to face since this all started. I felt the ill effects of the Benedryl and Ambien working against me all day. I could hardly walk to the bathroom. I felt extremely groggy and fatiqued. My appetite wasn't affected fortunately, as I did keep eating pretty good throughout the day. I'm sure some of that was the Predisone helping, but either way, I knew I had to eat to get my energy levels back to a liveable level. There were times I would be laying on the couch and I couldn't even lift my head, I was so tired. I didn't nap at all during the day for fear of not being able to sleep last night. Instead of the Benedryl, I just took my regular dose of Ambien and went to sleep. I slept from about 11pm to 5am. I'm awake now, but I don't feel as weak as I did yesterday thankfully. Hopefully, my strength will continue to return as the hours go by today.
I'd also like to thank Darlene for all the wonderful things she's made in the last few weeks for me. The cupcakes were my favorite and are now gone, and the cookies have been wonderful too. Thank you very much for those! Sweet things typically aren't tasting good right now, but those cupcakes went down so good!
Today is my last day on my evil nemesis drug, Predisone. They're telling me that once I stop taking it, my body will likely crash a day or two later, but that is normal and it's time for my body to start working for itself again. I'm not looking forward to that, but I am looking forward to just being off of the drug itself, and feeling a little more normal and not so emotional all the time. It'll be nice not to have the urge to cry all the time! Damn drug has made me crazy! But all that ends today!
Tomorrow, we venture back to Chicago for my big day. We have to be there early around 7am...ack. I'll be getting a bone marrow biopsy to see if my treatment has sent my Leukemia into remission, and that new, cancer free cells have started to grow on their own. I'll probably be getting a blood transfusion as well, depending on what the labs say for my blood levels. And lastly, they'll be doing a spinal tap with chemo as well, but we believe that is all. We don't think (according to my schedule of stuff) that I'll be getting the regular 'Monday regimen of chemo'....just the spinal tap only. But we will see tomorrow. Unfortunatley, the results from the bone marrow biopsy (the one test we're the most interested in) won't be in for a few days afterward, as it takes 2-3 days to determine the results. We have to keep in mind that the last biopsy I had showed no Leukemia cells, which was great news, so there shouldn't be any reason why the new biopsy should say anything different. We're just hoping that new, cancer-free cell growth has started where the Leukemia was. If that's the outcome this week, I'll be able to say my cancer is in remission, and that's big.
I'd also like to thank Darlene for all the wonderful things she's made in the last few weeks for me. The cupcakes were my favorite and are now gone, and the cookies have been wonderful too. Thank you very much for those! Sweet things typically aren't tasting good right now, but those cupcakes went down so good!
Today is my last day on my evil nemesis drug, Predisone. They're telling me that once I stop taking it, my body will likely crash a day or two later, but that is normal and it's time for my body to start working for itself again. I'm not looking forward to that, but I am looking forward to just being off of the drug itself, and feeling a little more normal and not so emotional all the time. It'll be nice not to have the urge to cry all the time! Damn drug has made me crazy! But all that ends today!
Tomorrow, we venture back to Chicago for my big day. We have to be there early around 7am...ack. I'll be getting a bone marrow biopsy to see if my treatment has sent my Leukemia into remission, and that new, cancer free cells have started to grow on their own. I'll probably be getting a blood transfusion as well, depending on what the labs say for my blood levels. And lastly, they'll be doing a spinal tap with chemo as well, but we believe that is all. We don't think (according to my schedule of stuff) that I'll be getting the regular 'Monday regimen of chemo'....just the spinal tap only. But we will see tomorrow. Unfortunatley, the results from the bone marrow biopsy (the one test we're the most interested in) won't be in for a few days afterward, as it takes 2-3 days to determine the results. We have to keep in mind that the last biopsy I had showed no Leukemia cells, which was great news, so there shouldn't be any reason why the new biopsy should say anything different. We're just hoping that new, cancer-free cell growth has started where the Leukemia was. If that's the outcome this week, I'll be able to say my cancer is in remission, and that's big.
2 comments:
That would be better than big...that would be HUGE!!!! That is what all the crappy days have had you working up to. Once you hear that, then those bad days will begin to fade. You can face anything and beat it! You are one tuff dude! (except for riding the toll road that early in the morning. No one is that tuff!) I will be thinking of you all day (like always),and looking forward to talking to you later!
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AnonymousFebruary 24, 2009 at 4:53 PMYay for no prednisone. They usually ramp Soji down off that stuff, so if you get a bit of a bounce (*splat*) coming off of it I wouldn't be surprised.
ReplyDelete
Go, go, Gadget Jonathon! :-)
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That would be better than big...that would be HUGE!!!! That is what all the crappy days have had you working up to. Once you hear that, then those bad days will begin to fade. You can face anything and beat it! You are one tuff dude! (except for riding the toll road that early in the morning. No one is that tuff!) I will be thinking of you all day (like always),and looking forward to talking to you later!
ReplyDeleteYay for no prednisone. They usually ramp Soji down off that stuff, so if you get a bit of a bounce (*splat*) coming off of it I wouldn't be surprised.
ReplyDeleteGo, go, Gadget Jonathon! :-)