Big Accomplishment

Today was the first time I went outside since Monday morning. It's not just that it's frigid out there, which it is, I basically had no reason to leave the house. My dog-walker took care of Buck and ran some errands for me. I sat in the sunny front room napping, reading and watching endless episodes of Law & Order. Reader, they're not endless. I think I have one more left on tape. I have a Criminal Minds addiction as well, and there are still a lot of them I've taped but not watched.

I was not exactly dressed to the 9's (more like the 2's) but I walked to the town office to pay my real estate taxes which are due tomorrow. Then I got in my car to go the post office where I had 3 days worth of mail, even a check! I was out of common groceries such as milk, bread and tomatoes. I ended up buying a bunch of other things at the market, and then had to lug it all to my car, to the house--you get the picture.

I was and remain exhausted.

New Stratagies to Battle GVS Prove Challenging

I saw my oncologist and dermatologist in NYC last week. After Dr. G. saw the crud on my legs and how unhappy I've been with unstretchable ligaments and muscles, he commented that considering how bad I felt, I looked better than I did two years ago when he met me for the first time. What can I say? He's a gentleman.

Both doctors decided to take an aggressive approach to dealing with my skin issues. Dr. G gave me a megadose of dexamethasone and said I should be up all night, like I would if I took plain old prednisone. Instead, I crashed and burned two days later, having to cancel all my appointments including a trip to the Boston Foundation for Sight and a visit with some New Hampshire friends. Dr. L. told me to exfoliate the patchy skin with a blend of salicylic acid  and pramasone. Then I'm to cover the raw spots with a special anti-bacterial ointment. A day at the spa.

I'm functioning. I eat, I sleep, I take my meds. I'll be back soon. 

Another "ologist" Is Added to the Roster

As a blogger, you're always looking for things to blog about. On a blog about surviving leukemia with a stem cell transplant, things find you.

My new orthopedist recommends I see a rheumatologist because the MRI I had last week showed arthritis in my right shoulder, among other things. I'm going to see my oncologist in New York on Thursday and will filter this all through him. The orthopedist may or may not give me a cortisone shot based what my oncologist says. I don't think he'll like the idea of surgery. I don't.

Pain Log

In an effort to try and shed light on why my legs are so painful, I started a log last Tuesday. I've had 3 relatively pain-free days out of 11. I've been taking 2 extra-strength every day, 1-2 doxepins (anti-itch)
and oxycodone as needed, which is often.

The only pattern I see is that the pain usually happens in the afternoon/evening but can strike anytime. Last night, it woke me up in the middle of the night, and it came in the morning twice.

Am I getting obsessive or what? Maybe I should make a chart with a pain line on it. I'm so sick of this I could cry, and sometimes do. Is this a life?

Does persistent pain affect your brain? I was slowly poring olive oil into a pan today and none came out. I'd failed to remove the cap. It was almost funny.

Two Plogish Days in a Row

After being on the road most of Tuesday (blood draw--all numbers good), traveling to the train station to drop off Mariel, going for Chinese food with Harry because his flight was cancelled due to the frigid cold, and after I arrived safely home, I kept the Oxycodone close to my wretched body. At the restaurant I took two extra strength Tylenols, and when I got home I took an anti-itch rx called Doxipen. Nada. I took 5mg of oxy at 6pm. I was so far behind the pain, I decided that a glass of red wine might soothe the savage body limbs and popped another Doxipen. By 10 pm, I'd had it. I'd already filled my Tylenol quota. I'd already rubbed in various potions. Encore une fois rien. I took 2 oxys (10 mg) and left Earth for a place in which I drift in and out of sleep feeling no pain. Once the pain receptors are turned off, I'm good until morning or until later, or for days.Weird. At least I'm not like those poor fibromyalgia patients who have nothing to show for their pain. I, on the other hand, have lower legs that are splotchy, crusted and re-crusted.

The cold is really taking a toll on my muscles, tendons and ligaments (and possibly my mind), I think. Everyone else uses it as an excuse, so why not me? Schools cancelled; planes grounded; FedEx can't deliver my meds, the really important ones I have to specialty order. Jeepers creepers, when I was a kid I walked five miles to school in two feet of snow. Seriously though, it gets cold in the Northeast in Winter. That's why you layer up and go sledding or skiing and then defrost your toes in front of a fire gripping a mug of hot cocoa or a hot toddy. We didn't have finger and toe warmers back in the good old days. They just sawed off your toe or finger when it went hopelessly dead.

I grow old, rickety and crotchety as time goes by.    

Going Polar

I'm wearing double layers and have a portable heater by my side. The temperature has been dropping steadily all day, from 46 degrees at 7:30 am to 30 right now. That's warm compared to the frigid -4 we expect tonight. Mariel and I drove to yoga because I'm terirfied of slipping and falling down. I couldn't get warm during class, and my muscles rejected any attempts to stretch. It was depressing, especially since Saturday's yoga had gone so well. Plus, my legs were really itchy. Despair.

My legs still itch but I'm about to shower and lather my self with various products. I'm going to put on my 30-year-old Irish fisherman-knit sweater and hope for the best. I think I hyphened that phrase correctly. 
  

When Things Are Gray and White

We took our dog Buck for a re-check on his glaucoma yesterday at the NYC Animal Hospital. There's no change and we have to keep him on eye drops indefinitely. Buck and I are both handicapped; it's just he doesn't know it. While we were there, I saw a white greyhound five feet away from a dark-gray pit bull terrier. The only greyhounds I've seen have been gray, and most of the pit bulls I've seen have been white. You can learn something new every day.

But the way a white greyhound is an oxymoron. Think jumbo shrimp, pretty ugly and a whole half. Good grief!


Happy and Healthy New Year from The Plog!