May 8, 2000 -- Day 60 --A little excitement
Hi Everyone!
There hasn't been a lot going on with us, but I thought I'd send off a note to let you know how we're doing. Our last visit to Boston was on April 24th. That was when Dave had his Hickman IV line removed. The walk from Dana Farber to Brigham and Womens really did Dave in, and it took him about a week to get over the exhaustion from that.
Shortly after that, it warmed up here, and spring burst onto the scene, with trees getting leaves and flowers blooming and pollen flying everywhere, so Dave's allergies started bothering him pretty badly. No headaches, just a lot of pressure from his sinuses. At about the same time, his stomach started acting up, and he got really gassy -- just burps, mind you. But a ton of them! The poor guy was a belching fool! So we called the nurse in Boston, and asked her if there was anything we could give him for the gas and the sinus pressure. She said not to take anything over the counter, but to go see a doctor here for a nasal washing to make sure there wasn't a sinus infection causing the pressure, and while we're there, ask for a prescription for Prilosec, the latest drug for stomach problems. She said the gas was probably caused by his stomach still being irritated from the radiation he had. And I thought it was my cooking!
We made an appointment at Fletcher Allen to go see the hematologist Dave had been seeing before we went to Boston. They squeezed us in on Thursday, so off we went. A nasal washing is just what it sounds like (hope you never have to have one done!). A woman from the respiratory therapy department came up and put saline in Dave's nose, then sucked it back out and hoped to get some "nasal discharge" (snot) with it to send to the lab. Poor Dave -- it wasn't a pleasant thing for him, and I almost passed out just watching it! Some caregiver I am, huh?
While we were at the hospital, we had them take blood for Dave's counts. They all look good. Whites are holding at 3.5, hematocrits (reds) have gone up to 34.1, and platelets are at 142. All looking pretty good. They also do tests (with the blood) to check his liver and kidney, and both are fine. Overall, he's in good shape.
On Saturday, Dave got a fever of about 100. If he gets a fever of 100.5 we're supposed to call the doctor, so I was getting pretty nervous. We sure don't want him to have to be admitted to the hospital! Always the positive thinker, I was sure Dave had some deadly infection and we were going to have to rush him to Boston! Fortunately, his temperature returned to normal on Sunday. The initial test for the nasal washing showed no signs of infection (see, all that worrying paid off -- it kept the infection away!).
Dave had another doctor's appointment today with his GP here in Burlington. This is the doctor who did the physical when Dave found out he had leukemia. The poor guy -- Dave had only been to him twice! Anyway, he's a really nice doctor. He told Dave he was glad to see he was doing so well. Dave had made the appointment to see if there was something the doctor could give him for his allergies. (The pressure is getting a little old, and doesn't promise to go away soon.) The doctor was very thorough, asking all about his treatment for leukemia, what meds he's taking now, how his recovery has been going. We told him about the nasal washing, and he explained about wanting to make sure there was no infection, and the difficulty of diagnosing a sinus infection (x-rays aren't accurate, but a cat scan may be in order if things don't clear up). He never made us feel rushed or like he had somewhere else to be. He even ignored his beeper the 5 or 6 times it went off. He gave Dave prescriptions for Flonase (a nasal spray) and Claritin. He said neither of them would interact with the meds Dave is currently taking.
Being the worry wart I am, I checked with our nurse in Boston just to be on the safe side, and she said they were fine to take (she checked with the doctor first). So we're hoping they'll help his sinuses feel better. The Prilosec takes about a week to work, but so far Dave has been less gassy. He's hoping to become even less so!
Aside from that, he's been sleeping a lot, and just laying low. He spent a lot of time laying down this weekend -- it seemed to be the only position where the pressure wasn't too bad on his head. And he's been feeling better since Saturday -- that must have been the worst of it.
Other than that, things have been pretty quiet. My big excitement was last Sunday when I went out to get the paper. I stepped off the from steps and the next thing I knew, I was laying on the ground. I don't even remember falling, it happened so fast. No I didn't pass out. Seems the ground under our walkway (which is paved) washed out, and when I stepped on it , my foot when through the black top! Upon closer inspection, it looks as if the chipmunk that had been living under the steps had made a few tunnels, which converged in the spot where my foot when through. Between that and all the rain we had, it just gave out. We weren't planning on replacing the walk this year, but I guess we will now. I asked Arnold, our next door neighbor and a contractor, to give me an estimate for taking up the old walk and putting in a couple of steps and a new landing. So I'm waiting on that. I thought about trying to replace it myself, then thought better of it! It sounded like way too much work to dig up the old walk, put in gravel and sand, level it off, build the steps. Um, I don't think so!
So that's about all that's new in our neck of the woods. Life isn't nearly as exciting as when we were in Boston (but that's okay by us!), so I don't have as much to tell you about (she says, after writing a 60-page entry!). But I did want to write so you wouldn't think we fell off the face of the earth (I just fell into a hole!).
We fast forwarded to summer this weekend -- Sunday hit 90! A little too warm for me, but at least it's not snowing. We go back to Boston this coming Monday, the 15th. Should just be a routine check up, but I'll let you know how we make out.
We're up to Day 60, and counting! Only 40 more days to go until the critical period is over. Dave was given the okay to eat out (cooked food -- still nothing raw) as of today, but with his stomach not feeling too good, we didn't go anywhere. Besides, he barely has the energy to make it through dinner here, much less at a restaurant!
Hope all is well with all of you. We'll talk to you soon.
Allison
p.s. Thanks for keeping Dave in your prayers and thoughts. He still needs them for a while yet.