Mid-Terms #2

Yesterday was NADIR visit, or as I called it here my "mid-terms" and I think that name shall be retained. Makes sense. At least to me.

Round#2 mid-terms was, for the most part, very much a deja-vu experience. I believe that is a good thing.

First stop is actually checking in and paying my co-pay, so what I have been calling the first stop is technically the second stop. Hey, does it really matter? Probably not. So, to be correct, second stop is visit with vitals tech gal. And, guess what?! My blood pressure reading was only a point off from the numbers during chemo day#1 & chemo day#2. Yippee.

So why do I make such a big deal about these BP readings? Because the doctors do and it bugs me that my body gets all wee-wee'd up about BP readings in medical settings. I'm hoping these last three readings (today & chemo days two weeks ago) that were nearer to normal and in the same ballpark (so to say) mean I may be getting less stressed about BP readings. Gee, and after all these years, all it took to accomplish that is a disease called Cancer. 

Next, time to extract some blood. Tech gal always asks where best place is and I've just had her use the inside of my right arm at the elbow but today thought we'd try the other arm. She was game. She was successful but earned her pay today. Long story short: my right arm is better. Two vials of blood were retrieved but it took a bit longer as the vein she finally found reluctantly gave us what was needed. One vial labeled as mine was immediately put into the fancy machine that does the CBC analysis. When I asked why two vials are taken she said sometimes a blood chemistry is requested so they just take two at the beginning and then don't have to do a second 'stick.' Smart.

Hey, who just passed out?  Sheesh.  It's only a picture!!

Next stop was across the hall to exam room and wait for Nancy, the P.A. She's the same gal who did the NADIR visit#1 with me.

We again chatted about last chemo round and side effects and what I did or didn't do for them and how this round compared to the first. Most of it you have already read about here on the blog. One thing she and I talked briefly about, that I don't think was mentioned in a previous post (and I'm not going to look it up right now so maybe I have), was the one night I felt so yucky, crappy, crummy, icky and wondered if maybe one of those anti-nausea pills was what I needed but wasn't sure because I didn't feel nauseous. Just yucky, crappy, crummy, icky. Or maybe I was nauseous but didn't know it. Anyway it was just as I was heading to bed for the night so I pulled out the pharmacy paper that came with the pills so see if there was anything I needed to know since I've never had one before and then read through the warning and cautions. Big Mistake. Decided I didn't want to wake up dead and would wait until morning to better monitor any potential problems. At this point Nancy looked at me, shook her head, smiled, and said, "Take it. You'll either feel better because it worked, but if it doesn't there's no harm." Okay. Good to know. BTW, as it turned out I felt better in the morning, so, no pill.

She then again looked over her notes and was apparently reviewing what C-Dr and I had discussed two weeks earlier during our appointment on infusion day#1. Next question was about swallowing and if I'd had problems, and also if I had troubles with acid reflux. Same answer as to everyone else: "No." Beginning to wonder if I'm some kind of anomaly with so many medical folks apparently incredulous I've been able to swallow food and such...at all. She then read through PET scan results and the dimensions of the esophagus mass from the report and measured it out to show me. I still had to ask: ?What if all this I'm going through doesn't work? because it often crosses my mind. She assured me it would and then we kind of went through the chemo dates for the remainder of the year. It's expected December will be my last of the two-day chemo infusion treatments and based on those dates she thought my yucky, crappy, crummy, icky feeling days would likely be gone by Christmas so I could enjoy that day. I certainly hope so.

Today's blood counts were reviewed and she was again pleased with the numbers. White blood cell count and platelet count were each down but not to any critical numbers. Red blood cells are holding their own and other numbers were good. Relief to hear that. Then a hop up on the table for the quick once over: my heart still beats and my lungs function, etc., etc. Because I'd forgotten to get a copy when C-Dr offered in July, of scope-Doc results of the Endoscopy and UltraSound and Biopsy, I was able to get that done today. Reading through it in the car later was interesting but I'm going to have to dig into two of my mother's medical books (Merck manual & Talbot's dictionary) to figure out some of the words used that I don't think I've ever heard of before. Anyway, today's visit was completed in less than an hour...

Again.

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