We had rescheduled today for the afternoon to accommodate Littman's temporary schedule of going to the hospital in the mornings but she was home sick today. Nevertheless, we had a very good meeting with Eleanor, who is up on everything.
First, of course, were lab tests that came back without my needing either a red or white blood cell needle. The nurse for the lab tests had told me to hop on the medical recliner chair and seemed amused when I actually tried to hop on it. Actually, I can't hop very high; and I've noticed in step ball that my minimal jumping ability before I was sick has been reduced to a few inches at best.
Back to Eleanor. She actually felt my previous calculation of a 39 to 40% reduction in my tumor was a reasonable calculation. As to the report referring to a "slight decrease", she said the doctors weren't mathematicians. As to other minor issues raised in the report, none were a problem and most were just a result of getting older. She made Cisplatin, part of my next protocol on February 20, sound not nearly as bad as what I had found on the internet, which was more like a drug commercial that lists all the things that can go wrong. But in all likelihood, Cisplatin will not be as easy to take as Mighty Mouse has been so far with nausea the main reaction but fortunately not diarrhea. I've felt fine so far since the infusion this afternoon and hope to have three more good weeks. Linda and I each had a list of questions, and it was kind of fun as we switched back and forth asking them. Eleanor has a good sense of humor.
We had a new chemo nurse Julie who like the others was great, very helpful, and experienced. This is a short infusion process with Mighty Mouse taking about 5 minutes and various other non-chemo infusions making the whole process less than an hour. I delayed the process some as Amos went into full attack mode, allowing me to leave mementos in nearly every bathroom on the floor (but not on the floor).
When they weighed me, I came in at 136.4 pounds fully dressed and shoed but no backpack. I had gained 10 pounds since only one week ago, which convinced me at least one of the scales was off . In fact, later I stepped on a different scale which showed 133.4. In either case, it was a significant gain, especially since last week was close to a low point, which I didn't understand because I was eating well but I guess my intestinal reactions must have been active. It did seem that I had gained weight the last week but I didn't expect this much and think last week's reading was erroneously low.
After we left Jeff (we were there from about 1:15 to 4:30), we went back to nearby Smokin' Bettys for some good barbecue and then took a bus home.
Completely unrelated, I mentioned once before the acronym BANANA, which is like the more common Nimby (Not in my backyard.) But since I always forget what BANANA stands for and I found my note defining it, I'm repeating it here so maybe I will remember it (not likely). BANANA is Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anybody.
Have a good night and dream of froggies and fairies (this is what my mother said to me when I was little.)
Elkan - Monday night
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