27 October 2023
I seemed to have gotten plenty of sleep last night but for some reason my Apple Watch didn’t record anything. I do remember a few dreams but I also remember going to the bathroom a lot.
I figured since I felt good yesterday (I did trim the Heliconia) I would feel even better today but it was not to be. I was lethargic all day, woozy, and weak. Even so, I did managed to clean the pool filter and wash down the pool and patio deck. Then I went back to bed. I had little appetite but did snack on something before the hydration infusion.
Somewhere in all this, Michael texted me a photo of a plant requesting an identification. Everyone who knows me knows of my botanical background. What they don’t know is I have no idea about horticulture. In any case, I have a secret weapon. There are two plant apps out there that if you take a photo of the plant, they will attempt an identification. They are fairly accurate.
More accurate is the new iPhone camera and app. If you take a photo of a plant with the iPhone, the new iOS will attempt to identify the plant. I find it very accurate – probably not 70-80% correct on identifications. However, the photo Michael sent was taken from a distance. When I downloaded the image and enlarged it, what looked like flower buds eventually showed some of the flowers in full bloom.
I took a photo of the enlarged image showing the blooms and the iPhone properly identified it. Now the secret to my success is out – I cheat.
The trick is to know when the identification is wrong and find the correct one.
Joel arrived early to take me to the cancer institute so we made a trip to CVS to pick up a prescription first. Then it was on to the center and they took me back at exactly 2:15 – my scheduled time. I have Casey as my nurse again and I really like her. She’s very personable. I’ve already started the saline and magnesium infusions. It’ll be two or three hours before I’m finished. That means Joel will be taking me home during rush hour.
The CBC with Auto Differential came back as usual with normal white blood cells, low red blood cells, hematocrit and hemoglobin. The Complete Metabolic Panel came back normal except for high glucose (non-fasting). Apparently my liver enzymes have all returned to normal. No so, my magnesium, although it is better today than Wednesday. On Wednesday, it was 1.2 and today it was 1.6 – still low but better.
I assume it’ll be a sleepless night. I don’t sleep well the nights of infusions. Presently, I have hydration infusions scheduled every Friday until January and Herceptin infusions every three weeks until January (but that will continue probably until August of 2024).
Stay tuned!