November 25, 2013 (Mon) – Mum’s the Word…Not!

I know, after a month of silence, two blogs in two days. What’s gotten into me? I should more appropriately, if not more accurately, say “what’s gotten outta me.”

If you remember from August, my radio-doc was apparently not pleased that he wasn’t the first to give me good news on my brain MRI. As the ordering physician, it really was his responsibility to deliver the news, good or bad. Well, I hope he is not a subscriber to my blog, otherwise he is going to get pissed once more. So keep it on the down-low, would you?

Had my brain MRI this morning and my uncle-doc appointment early this afternoon. Thanks to modern technology, my results were already on-line for the doc to see. No Evidence of Disease (N.E.D.) once again, thank you very much. For some of you, you may not have even had time to read yesterday’s post. For those of you in med school, here is the official reading →

I should have the other half of this equation, the P.E.T. scan, scheduled in the very near future. No reason to think it won’t come back just as squeaky clean.

But the hip is still a blip. A blip of increasingly painful proportions. So my onc-doc, after further consideration, has opted to get a CT scan on that. Probably the last part of my anatomy that hasn’t been scanned. OK, maybe there is one other area but we won’t go there. And neither will the scan.

But the doc wants to double-confirm that what I’m experiencing is strictly an arthritis issue, nothing related to my illness or treatments. Thus, since one of the possible side effects of the monthly Zometa infusion treatments is hip pain, he cancelled my appointment for that procedure today. He wants to rule out any kind of osteonecrosis. OK, I officially hate the last 3 syllables of that word. Reminds me of the Body Snatchers or some other film where something is feeding off dead flesh. Yum. It will be rescheduled once we know for sure that the Z-stuff is not a contributing factor.

Since the hydrocodone/acetaminophen was only offering limited relief, he prescribed cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril) to see if that might help a bit. The combo of the two really is making me drowseghtldsf;khrkha;ljgajgadgawetahaergdga……………….

Sorry, nodded off and my head decided to try its hand at typing. Probably ’bout a wash when compared to my regular pyting skills.

OK, that should hold you for a while. Just thought I’d get in a good word.

Business as usual. Day at a time.

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November 24, 2013 (Sun) – Missed it by THAT Much

OK, 20 points for recognizing where that title came from. Yeah, I know – piece of cake for those of you over 50. Or whoever saw the remake back in 2008. Get Smart was one of my favs on TV back in the 60’s. So today I borrow a phrase from the same guy who drops into work via a telephone booth. I guess Superman might be another. But who remembers what phone booths are anyway? Squirrel!

So what was missed by that much? Up until today it could apply to one of the Charger games. But they actually pulled it off today. Or it could apply to my softball game today, except for the fact we missed it by TTTTTHHHHAAAATTT much. Not pretty.

No, what was missed by that much was a blog that centered around a party I was tempted to throw. A party with plenty of wine. Well, OK, this time, for the first time, it would have been whine. A month ago today I blogged about being a degenerative hippie. And over the past 30 days my arthritic bone-on-bone hip has progressed (regressed?) to the point where there is an increasing level of pain that has messed with my head. The good news is that it has made me forget about anything else going on within my anatomy.

And yet while tempted to focus on what is hard to ignore, I am surrounded by reminders that I am extremely fortunate. Fortunate that this stupid hip stuff is just stupid hip stuff. Yeah it hurts. But it’s fixable. I’m fortunate that I have such an incredible support group in all of you, my family and friends. And I’m fortunate to have that EGFR genetic marker in my cancer that allows me to take one single $200 designer pill each day to keep it at bay. Lots (most) of lung cancer victims don’t have it so easy and would love to trade places with me.

So I really am lucky. Besides the support mentioned above, I still think back on Dylan David and Mike Stevens and what each of them went through. And for a whole lot longer than just 4 weeks of a little pain. Plus I have this awesome card that a good friend  who went through some really tough times gave me. Thanks Deb. This truly is helping me to keep my perspective.

I guess because it’s been so relatively easy to keep my positive attitude since I really haven’t had any serious challenges that I wasn’t sure how to deal with some when they came along. Guess I’m learning as I go. Just another glitch, right?

I will dispense with the cutesy calendar reminder but tomorrow (Monday) is my 90-day brain MRI scan.  Lookin’ for all of your positive vibes/thoughts/prayers again, as usual. They’ve worked perfectly so far.  The PET scan has yet to be scheduled. I am also going in for my monthly Zometa infusion treatment. Here’s a shot of me at last month’s drip-party. Obviously keeping my onc-doc happy by maintaining my weight. Yeech. I should have cropped or Photoshopped this. Eh, nothing to hide at this point, right?

Business as usual. Day at a time.