No news is good news, our anniversary, and more IV drama.
I have not posted for about two weeks--this is mainly because there has not been too much to report. No news is mostly good news!
I met with Dr. Horowitz to follow up on radiation treatment. It was a three hour round-trip for 10 minutes with him (maybe). The most exciting thing was the nurses freaking out about my high blood pressure despite me telling them that it is high because of my meds. Multiple nurses took my blood pressure and kept asking ME if it was normal. In my head my response is something like, "Ummm, IDK. You are the nurse. I know it can be high because of my meds. It is different every time I take it. Maybe you should consult a doctor?"
I do feel a lot better with the reduced medication dosage. Also, I got permission for a mini-holiday from the meds for our anniversary. Chris had booked us a dinner at Blue Hill in the city. We also popped by Milk to round out our Chef's Table theme for the celebration.
Last week I had the colonoscopy. CVD and Mat come down from Maine to join me for the thrilling adventure. They enjoyed a delicious Malaysian dinner from Sambal while I tried not to vomit from drinking 64oz of Gatorade laced with 17 doses of Miralax. I am awesome company.
When we arrived and checked in, to CVD's horror they nurse looked at me and said "You're so young! What are you doing here?!" I have metastatic cancer. "But, you are so young and look so healthy!" CVD mused at how crazy it is that people, particularly medical people, seem to think it is OK to highlight with disbelief that a young-ish, otherwise-healthy person has a terrible disease--as if they can't believe it. Sorry, should I look more pathetic for you? It really isn't my style.
The procedure itself was uneventful and the impression from the nurse was that things looked fine. They sent some tissue samples for biopsy, but I am sure that is pretty standard for patients like me. The only hiccup was that my IV was, yet again, done incorrectly. When the nurse placed it, I told her it hurt. She (predictably) tugged at the cannula and fiddled with it (OUCH!! WHY DO YOU THINK THAT HELPS?!) and asked "Is that better?" Um, I guess... When I was taken back to the procedure room, I told the (new) nurse that the IV still hurt a lot. "Oh, that's because it is on a joint." Really? Because it still hurts a lot. Well, that nurse was wrong, because when they started the saline my wrist began to form a bubble of fluid and I shouted for help. As expected, they had to place a new IV in the other arm. I am really over these bad IV experiences. It seems like I am having them literally every time now.
I have another infusion on Tuesday. Sophia is meeting me in the city to be my buddy. Then, I have a local appointment with a new ob/gyn on Thursday. I need to establish care more locally and have someone connected to the Columbia system; because, as it turns out, Dr. Drake is an expert on the male genito-urinary system, but lady stuff is a little out of his reach. Have I mentioned that I go to the dude cancer center? So weird.
I met with Dr. Horowitz to follow up on radiation treatment. It was a three hour round-trip for 10 minutes with him (maybe). The most exciting thing was the nurses freaking out about my high blood pressure despite me telling them that it is high because of my meds. Multiple nurses took my blood pressure and kept asking ME if it was normal. In my head my response is something like, "Ummm, IDK. You are the nurse. I know it can be high because of my meds. It is different every time I take it. Maybe you should consult a doctor?"
I do feel a lot better with the reduced medication dosage. Also, I got permission for a mini-holiday from the meds for our anniversary. Chris had booked us a dinner at Blue Hill in the city. We also popped by Milk to round out our Chef's Table theme for the celebration.
Last week I had the colonoscopy. CVD and Mat come down from Maine to join me for the thrilling adventure. They enjoyed a delicious Malaysian dinner from Sambal while I tried not to vomit from drinking 64oz of Gatorade laced with 17 doses of Miralax. I am awesome company.
When we arrived and checked in, to CVD's horror they nurse looked at me and said "You're so young! What are you doing here?!" I have metastatic cancer. "But, you are so young and look so healthy!" CVD mused at how crazy it is that people, particularly medical people, seem to think it is OK to highlight with disbelief that a young-ish, otherwise-healthy person has a terrible disease--as if they can't believe it. Sorry, should I look more pathetic for you? It really isn't my style.
The procedure itself was uneventful and the impression from the nurse was that things looked fine. They sent some tissue samples for biopsy, but I am sure that is pretty standard for patients like me. The only hiccup was that my IV was, yet again, done incorrectly. When the nurse placed it, I told her it hurt. She (predictably) tugged at the cannula and fiddled with it (OUCH!! WHY DO YOU THINK THAT HELPS?!) and asked "Is that better?" Um, I guess... When I was taken back to the procedure room, I told the (new) nurse that the IV still hurt a lot. "Oh, that's because it is on a joint." Really? Because it still hurts a lot. Well, that nurse was wrong, because when they started the saline my wrist began to form a bubble of fluid and I shouted for help. As expected, they had to place a new IV in the other arm. I am really over these bad IV experiences. It seems like I am having them literally every time now.
I have another infusion on Tuesday. Sophia is meeting me in the city to be my buddy. Then, I have a local appointment with a new ob/gyn on Thursday. I need to establish care more locally and have someone connected to the Columbia system; because, as it turns out, Dr. Drake is an expert on the male genito-urinary system, but lady stuff is a little out of his reach. Have I mentioned that I go to the dude cancer center? So weird.
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