And now a word about my health

Monday I saw my oncologist and had lab work done.  The report from the doctor is I am doing well. In fact well enough to plan a train trip this summer.  Marty and I have only looked at getting through each day.  We have made no long range plans.  But there are some things I want to do before the end of this illness.  And a train trip to visit friends in San Diego is one of them.

One of the blood tests was called a tumor marker.  It was to be compared to a base line to see if the tumor was growing, shrinking, or the same.  The doctor says she uses it as a clue, it is not a perfect test.

Tuesday as I was waiting to go into chemo, I got an email from my doctor.  The tumor marker was down.  GREAT news!  I started crying with joy just as the nurse called me in.  I told him why I was crying and he hugged me and held me as we walked to my chemo chair.  Nurses in a chemo infusion clinic need good news too.

Before the chemo starts they take my vitals.  My blood pressure was high.  He took it again and it was higher.  I sat a while, took it again and higher.  Crap, I have been stable since December, what is going on?  After the chemo was done, before I could leave, the blood pressure was taken once again.  Still higher.  My doctor came to the clinic and we discussed what to do.  It was high enough to be border line run her to the ER now.  I decided to go to ER because I was afraid to go home.  After 3 1/2 hours and a change in meds the numbers came down. 

I had my blood pressure checked on Thursday afternoon to see if the meds were helping or hindering.  Too much meds and the blood pressure will plummet.  I was down in the normal range and now only have to make an appointment with my primary care doctor to get his thoughts.

Back to Wednesday, I had my heart echocardiogram.(I think that is the correct term.  It is basically an ultra sound of the heart)    If you remember the awful CT scan, a shadow around my heart looked as if there was fluid there.  Nope, heart normal, nothing to worry about. 

So all in all lots of good news.  I am not having awful side effects, I am walking 30 minutes most days, I am healthy in many ways.  So the prayers are working friends.  Thank you for the love and caring.  I feel you out there.