Lessons on the light side

Prednisone plus coffee equals crawl out of your skin. Chemo plus Zofran equals cork. Benadryl can be a sleep aid while on Prednisone. I want to gripe at gripers who gripe about little things, just like I usually did before all of this started.

Third round of chemo

The day of my third round of chemo, Wednesday, January 16, started by getting to the office at the UAB medical center and finding out they didn't have me scheduled for the intrathecal. It was corrected eventually, so no biggie, just put everything behind a couple of hours.
I didn't get sick (as in throw-up sick) on the night of the chemo this time, but did the next morning. Thursday was a bad day, but Friday was a little better. I'm off work until Tuesday, so should feel most of the way better by then.
I have another PET scan on February 5, the day before chemo round 4.
Haven't shaved my head yet, though about half to two thirds of my already thinning hair has fallen out. I'll probably shave it or get it shaved in the next couple of weeks. Whether or not I have hair is far down on my list of concerns, though.
I appreciate all of the continued prayers and good wishes. I especially want to thank my wife, Audrey, my church family at Lamb of God Church in Helena, Alabama, my high school class - Selma High class of 79 - still friends after all these years, other family members, friends, fellow writer and Facebook friends (whether we've met face to face or not, they're still friends) who've asked how I'm doing. If I left any group out, it wasn't intentional.
Had a great time tonight playing Stephen King Trivia on Facebook. Those folks have tremendous senses of humor and help keep me laughing.
The One who is on the throne sees all, knows all, and is over all.

A night at the ER

I got a headache on New Year's Day (not from drinking) and it still hung around until yesterday, January 3. Plus I felt more lethargic than usual, and looked pale. I called the oncologist's office yesterday afternoon and they told me to go to the ER to have some lab work done. I got there at 5 PM.
First lesson learned - don't carry a pocket knife to the ER. I had mine with me when we got to the UAB ER and it was confiscated. I later was reminded there was a shooting at another local hospital a couple of weeks ago.
I explained about 4 or 5 times what I'd told the doctor's office and what they'd told me. The ER was very busy and we (Audrey and I) were pleasantly surprised when we were in a room within the ER examining/treatment area between 6:30 and 7. The doctors were concerned I could have meningitis so they eventually did a CAT scan of my head and took spinal fluid (yes, another lumbar puncture). At one point before the lumbar puncture they gave me morphine for pain. Within a few seconds of having it put in my IV I felt worse, and continued to feel worse until they gave me something for nausea, caused mainly by the morphine, and something else for pain. I found out I don't react well to it and hope I never have to have it again.
We were told there was about an 85% chance I'd be admitted and kept overnight, if only because it could take several hours for the spinal fluid to be examined.
That turned out to not be the case. We left a little before 2 AM and drove home. Early in the evening I'd asked the doctor if I'd be able to work today, he laughed and said no. I retrieved my pocket knife from the security station before leaving.
The headache and extreme fatigue were probably caused from a reaction to the intrathecal chemo I'd gotten on Dec 26. Everything was clear as far as meningitis or encephalitis goes. I have an appointment with my oncologist on Monday, hopefully he'll be able to shed some light on what all happened and why. Post-chemo second round has been much worse than after the first round. The third round is Wednesday, January 16. At least I already know I'll be off work until Tuesday, January 22.
And still waiting for all of the short-term disability stuff to get worked out.