Red, White, Blue and a Happy New Year, Too

Red, the color of my right eyeball. It feels fine, and I wore my PROSE lenses successfully yesterday. The left eye, which feels like it has a rock in it, looks great. I'd put the lenses in to see to avoid the dryness that's causing both problems, but we're visiting friends and going out to a party so I'm "saving" them for later.

White, the color of what I see outside. We got 7 inches in Jville Saturday, and there's about the same here in the Poconos. With the sun reflecting off the snow, I'm blinded and have to wear 2 pairs of sunglasses.

Blue, the color of my eyes (pupils). Blue, the condition of my psychic state due to the above and other annoying issues you'd think I'd be used to, resigned to or able to put some positive spin on. I'll not catalog them here.

It doesn't help that I dislike New Year's Eve, have always liked to spend it at home, and decide whether or not to stay up to see the ball drop in Times Square, or call it a night at 10. Last year, we were in Peru and watched the festivities on TV in our pajamas. I had to wake Marty up and force-feed him Prosecco at midnight.

Oh, I almost forgot about New Year's resolutions. I don't make them.

Feeling Good

I saw my oncologist in NYC today. Counts are good, and we'll start lowering prednisone February 1st. Yesterday I got my new PROSE lens for the left eye. My vision is great, without glasses, and since they deliberately made one eye a little weaker, I don't need reading glasses. So in this respect, I'm like a young person.

Physically, I'm feeling more agile. I can pick a coin or paper off the floor, and my arms seem to have a bit more motility. This, without having done yoga for over a week.

May this continue.

Busy Morning

I don't usually set the alarm for 6:30 am but a lot was going on today. Marty had to be in NYC for an appointment, and I'm scheduled for the next and third round of Vidaza this week at the local hospital. I dropped Marty off at the bus terminal and then found a local post office to send a bunch of packages. I can never figure out what boxes or envelopes to choose to make it the cheapest. Thankfully the woman there was very helpful.

On to my appointment. First I had a blood draw. All is pretty normal on that front, with lowish RBC's. Then I went to the Oncology unit where I saw the nurse, the nurse practitioner, and three nurses in the infusion unit. I had my blood pressure taken three times by three different people, with it going down each time until it was perfect.

For some reason, the nurses couldn't believe I wanted an injection in my underarm rather than an infusion, in which they'd still be poking me to find a vein that would stand up to the pumping. Good luck. I told them I preferred 30 seconds of discomfort to them ferreting around my limbs to find a usuable place and then have to sit there for 10 minutes while the Vidaza flows in. The injection didn't hurt much at all and 5 hours later, I don't have a bump or any pain.

Marty's staying in the City so I'm going wild here in the boonies! Woot!

Drug Hunting in the Mountains

Sometimes a pharmacy doesn't stock the drug you need but can order it for the next day. I needed a few prescriptions refilled yesterday so I went to my local pharmacy in Jeffersonville to drop them off. One drug, Gleevec, the pharmacist had never heard of. She looked it up online and tried to see if she could order it for me. She wasn't successful, suggesting I check with a CVS (original pharmacy that filled the Rx) in the area to see if they had it or could get it. The "area" means within 50 miles.

I called the CVS in Honesdale, PA, some 40 miles away. They had Gleevec and transferred the refills from my NYC pharmacy. This is how these processes should work. My friend Doug, who drives through Honesdale on his way to Jeffersonville, will pick up the Rx for me on Saturday when he's coming for dinner.

Sometimes, you only have to jump through one or two hoops before achieving your goal.