31 December 2023
New Year’s Eve! The fireworks have already started. It should be quite a show in the neighborhood tonight. I maintain it’s the adults shooting off the fireworks and not for the kids entertainment. A lot of dogs and adults will need tranquilizers tonight.
I’m tired of feeling numb and tired. I think I’m beginning to figure this stuff out. Herceptin has side effects of fatigue and edema (swelling). Diabetes has as a side effect edema which can cut off circulation to the extremities and that can cause nerve damage. I suspect both Hercepin and diabetes have had a synergistic effect on me for the painful neuropathy. My feet and lower legs are certainly swollen – and numb – and painful.
On the other hand, I would have assumed the fatigue would abate the farther away I get from a Herceptin infusion. It has not. I drag around the house all day. My gait is somewhat zombie-like.
There are suggestions for the edema. I’m wearing compression socks and I plan to put my feet up today – literally. Several websites suggest elevating the feet above your heart. When you think about it, that’s hard to do. I can lie on the couch with my feet on the arms and my head/heart level with the cushions. Another option is my bed. I can raise the foot of the bed (it’s a bed that allows you to raise the head or the foot).
My glucose levels are high and my endocrinologist is concerned. As a consequence, I’ve started Jardiance again. I’ve got reservations about that but I need to get the glucose levels down. Dr. Jellinger wants me to test my glucose three times as day (as opposed to the usual one). So far, yesterday was 150, 200, and 185 (morning, after lunch, before bedtime).
I’m continuing to wean myself off Lyrica. I don’t think it did anything for me in the sense of reducing the pain from neuropathy. Too bad. It was a cheap drug through Publix.
My mental attitude is just OK. It’s depressing to go through this day by day with seemingly no improvement. I just hope the new year brings a better response physically and mentally.
By the way, I got an estimate of cost for the echocardiogram. It was over $4900. Fortunately, it was also estimated my insurance would pay for the entire procedure so my cost was projected to be $0.00. I keep waiting for some slip up or some unauthorized procedure to wipe me out financially. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
Otherwise, my big plans for today include putting black-eyed peas on to soak tonight so I can cook them tomorrow and “eat a bait” of them for good luck. (Using the word “bait” with the word “eat” was a thing my Grandmother Ruby always said.).
Everyone asks me, as a Southerner, if I eat collards with the peas. The gist is collards represent money coming in the new year and the peas are for good luck. My family never did collards routine. We would eat them if available but sometimes the frost took them out. Maybe that’s why we never had any money.
Another tradition elsewhere in the South is Hoppin’ John where you mix the peas with rice and onion and bacon. Again, not a Searcy or Agnew tradition. I’ll stick with my black-eyed peas, although I do add diced onion.
I’m optimistic about 2024. I know it’s easy to be downcast with the election of a president and endless commercials. I certainly have reason to be depressed with the continuing cancer treatments. However, I tend to be a person whose glass is half full – but with a nod to being prepared for the worst. It’s the Boy Scout in me with that motto “Be Prepared.” That was reinforced when I was in the Coast Guard whose motto is “Always Ready” (Semper paratus).
Happy New Year, everyone!
Stay tuned!