May 5, 2013 (Sun) – of leather and bondage…

OK, with everything pretty much on an even keel right now, it’s going to take more and more for me to tempt you into reading this diatribe. Ergo (who thought of that word?) the title of today’s post. And you already know I’m not above “cheating” with my titles. Today is no exception. The bondage part goes way back to my radiation treatments with my face cage and ankles strapped together. Oh, you’re disappointed it wasn’t something more kinky? Sorry.

Yes, I know that was weeks ago, but the title doesn’t work otherwise. The leather part will be explained in due time below. If I told you now, you might bail out and miss all the really creative stuff. Yeah right.

So we’ve been celebrating for the past week after my chest x-ray and brain MRI came back with such good results.  YES! Other than my family’s support, the outpouring of good wishes, comments and prayers (and yes, the Rombauer) from all of you have made this journey so much more bearable. And you got me through the tough spots to where I am today. OK, enough touchy-feely stuff.

This past Friday afternoon I went in for my monthly Zometa infusion, that drug that helps strengthen bones that could be weakened by cancer. The first time I had this treatment, the next day I was totally zonked with flu-like symptoms and a headache. Slept most of the day. Oh darn. So I had no idea what was in store for me this time. The arm-length side-effect sheet said many people only experience this on their first time. I was hoping. Especially since we had been invited by some friends for the weekend out to Aguanga (you’ll have to look that one up) for a relaxing couple days of wine, sunset, golf, some more wine, and a bit more wine. I told you I was celebrating. Anyway, woke up Saturday feeling pretty good so we were able to take advantage of that invite. I was wiped out a bit after golf on Saturday but a little libation seemed to bring me back a bit. My doc DID say to hydrate well after all. There might be some disagreement from the others in attendance as to what comprises my “little” but they aren’t writing this blog now, are they?

However, today I seemed to experience one of the other multiple symptoms possible with this drug. I’m assuming it wasn’t the wine. Choose one: cough, vision problems, diarrhea, headache, muscle pain, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, insomnia, chills, fever, constipation, yadda yadda…Yes, this medicine is really supposed to be good for you. Hard to believe.  Well, I won’t tell you which symptom I experienced, and the fact that I am not telling you should give you a hint. But we were still able to get a full round of golf in.

Since my rash and head itch had cleared so significantly, I opted to go off (with my doc’s permission of course) the Doxycycline to see how well I might do. Bad idea. Three days later my face started sprouting again and the head-ants started marching back. As for the Tarceva, my favorite $200 pill, some side effects ARE presenting a challenge:

OK, I’m not a Photoshop genius like my daughter, but you get the drift. This is a prickly pear. I feel like I have my own personal acupuncturist following me around practicing his trade by throwing handfuls of needles into various parts of my body to see what sticks. And the “prickly” feeling is a result of dryness that has set in. Kinda leathery; thus the blog title. My wrinkled hands look like they have been soaking in dishwater for an hour. This keeps up, I have my Halloween costume already designed: a mummy. And my feet followed suit. So Kim has been slathering Eucerin cream (more like the consistency of the paste we used to eat as kids) onto my upper back which then requires that I wear a T-shirt to bed to keep from ruining the sheets. And for the past week, I’ve been slopping on the afore-mentioned goo onto my feet and then putting on calf-high cotton socks. And I may be adding a similar treatment for my hands which would require wearing cotton gloves to go nighty-night. So envision wearing a T-shirt, socks and cotton gloves to bed. Not a pretty picture. And not very conducive to, er, well…never-mind. But you know what? I’ll take it over the alternative. Every day. I’ll wine but I won’t whine.

As for business as usual, this past week I returned to my duties at Rady Children’s Hospital where I volunteer in the playroom. It was really good to get back. And Friday I got back to the weekly science experiments I do for a 2nd grade class. Even thinking (hasn’t gotten past that stage yet) about returning to the gym. Who knows, I may even make it back to the summer camp I volunteer at if I can build up enough stamina to handle ten 9-year-olds in a cabin for a week. 🙂 As I said recently, it feels great to have a sense of normalcy back, even with the new normal.

Business as usual. Day at a time.