The Best Birthday

I just finished opening my birthday cards. Mariel called me from Peru; I missed Mark's call and Harry's calling later. I went for a massage and manicure this morning and tonight Marty's taking me out to Babbo, an Italian restaurant in the West Village.

I also went to see my oncologist this afternoon. We finally spoke about Dr. Antin's recommendations, and developed a strategy for combating my skin gvh which is getting worse.

I will increase prednisone to 40 mg from 20. I will start taking tacrolimus , an immune suppressant, again. I will take voriconozole, an anti-fungal. Am I happy about adding drugs and increasing prednisone? Of course not. But I understand I can't sit by and let my skin rot. It's not just the itchiness, which I can live with. I am the Queen of Cream. My skin is thickening, which means if you press on it, it feels hard and taut. The patchiness is also creeping up under my neck, which means the face is next and I won't have it. At least I now have an explanation (excuse?) for why my tummy is fat no matter how much abdominal work I do.

The meds can wait. The drug store has to special order 2 of them anyway. I'll start my new regimen tomorrow. Tonight I plan to continue having the best birthday I've had in a long time.