A new word…
I went to the doctor today and spent 4 1/2 hours at the hospital. I cannot begin to describe how much I deplore spending that much time at the hospital (though, I guess 4 1/2 hours is preferable to allowing the problem to “fester” and end up being admitted to the hospital, yes?). Initially, Edie, Dr. Kauh’s physician’s assistant, met with MaryBeth and me and again reiterated that the scans and tests that were run last week did not show anything. We discussed plans to manage the discomfort and waiting to see what other symptoms might arise. I pointed out, though, that I would really like to work towards understanding what was causing the problem. So Edie went to get Dr. Kauh.
Dr. Kauh and Edie returned and proceeded to poke and prod me and continued to be confused by my presentation. My bloodwork from today was fine (in fact, today, my white blood cell counts today were in the normal range — everyone do a happy dance!! We won’t mention my red blood cell count, though). Dr. Kauh then consulted with a surgeon who came in to examine my abdomen and together they came to an agreement.
The new word for the day, boys and girls, is “cellulitis.” The discussion today was that the cellulitis, which is a bacteriologic infection — most commonly caused by streptococcal and staphylococcal infections. As a result, Dr. Kauh suspended my chemo for this week and, instead, gave me IV antibiotics. Tomorrow, I will start on a 10-day cycle of oral antibiotics. My chemo was rescheduled for next week — the upside to this is that I will likely NOT have chemo the week after, so I won’t have to worry about dealing with chemo side effects while trying to enjoy Thanksgiving with my family.
The good news is that Dr. Kauh felt that if I do, in fact, have cellulitis, then we should start seeing an effect of the antibiotics within the next 24-48 hours. In the meantime, we will continue to manage the pain with slow-release morphine and oxycodone. Here’s hoping…
Speaking of Thanksgiving, I found out that I am going to be in the Pirate Planksters clown group in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. I am going to see what I can do to set it up so that I can call someone when I know what floats I’ll be near, and they can post it on the blog. I’m really looking forward to being in the Macy’s Day Parade, but more, I’m looking forward to spending an extended weekend with my Mom, brothers and sister (and their respective families).
I have to say that the holiday season seems more important this year than last. Last year, we were dealing with this persistent bile duct blockage, which, after a while, just seemed to be a benign inconvenience. With the onset of this years season, life seems more precious (for obvious reasons). Tim Hansel once said: “Life becomes precious and more special to us when we look for the little everyday miracles and get excited about the privileges of simply being…”. While I was in Puerto Rico, everytime someone said, “Good to see you,” I would respond, “Good to be seen.” Truly I was enjoying the privilege of being…
As I have mentioned previously, this is the last week before the Atlanta Purple Stride event. If you have been waiting for the right time, now would be that time. Please head on over to my Purple Stride webpage and make that donation you’ve been thinking about. We, together, have raised a little over $2400. Help me make it to $3,000.
More tomorrow!
Merle