Cancer Update -Part 91

20 December 2023

I have good news! Dr. Burgers gave me the all clear for the next 6 months. She did an ultra sound of both breasts and said everything was fine. Hopefully, the check-up in June will be the same.

I apologized profusely for missing the Monday appointment to everyone in the office but they seemed to think it was no big deal. Indeed, Dr. Burgers mentioned there were several no-shows today. Everyone is Christmas shopping, I suppose.

When I was leaving, Kathy, the Nurse Navigator, greeted me with a huge hug which I badly needed. It was good to see her. She’s been a great help during this entire process. I told her Dr. Fingado (my arthritis-of-the-hand doctor) sang her praises and she was pleased.

I had an earlier appointment with the chiropractor. My left hip bothered me all day yesterday – perhaps caused by 3 hours in the infusion chair. I got up several times to go to the bathroom, but it’s hard to get comfortable in those chairs for 3 hours even though they are designed for comfort. I guess I need to walk around more but it’s hard when your feet feel like they are fat.

Dr. White, the chiropractor, spent some time with me, particularly on the Cox table. It helped somewhat. What I’m looking forward to is taking Lyrica tonight to see if it begins to help with the neuropathy which is especially bad today. The only problem I can see is that it may increase dizziness and depression. I’m dizzy enough as it is and I’m sure as hell depressed, so it should be eventful on this drug. I’ll try anything to appease the neuropathy gods. The good new is Publix Pharmacy charged me the outrageous price of $0.55 for Lyrica. Dr. Velez said that Walgreens and CVS charges $400. I don’t know if that is for a 3 month supply or a one month supply but I liked the price at Publix.

I’ve decided to cancel the rest of the acupuncture appointments. If my neuropathy is getting worse, then it’s not helping. It’s also $80 a visit out of my pocket.

It’s been overcast and windy all day and sputtering rain. I wore shorts to all the appointments today because it’s easier to get in and out of the clothing. Be assured I also wore a jacket everywhere. I only wear long pants (jeans) to the infusion center because I get very cold there. I hate wearing long pants because that means putting on socks. It’s really hard to put on socks when you feet are numb and burning with pain. It takes me a while to make sure my little toe is not on the outside of the sock. It’s the same with shoes – even the slip-on ones.

I tried Nancy and Michel’s TENS unit yesterday. It works just fine and, to be honest, I can’t tell if it is doing any good but I’ll use it again tonight. The company of the previous unit will not refund me the full price on the gloves and socks I bought but offered to give me 50% rebate if I keep the gloves and socks. Then they offered me a special deal for a new TENS unit. To say I’m leery is an understatement. I’ll keep the unit, the socks and glove. It may work if I keep the unit plugged in and not rely on the dead battery. The one Nancy and Michel replaced it with is a much more substantial unit. The other one didn’t impress me.

Last night as I was getting ready to go to bed, the house alarm started beeping. The error code was 6F which meant the radiotelephone used to connect to ADT was not working. This morning, I called ADT and they said a technician would call me at 8:30 am to troubleshoot. That time came and went. I needed to get ready for the chiropractor so I forgot about it until I looked at my phone and saw three calls from ADT with messages about missing my appointment. My phone didn’t ring once. I’ll restart the process tomorrow.

Tomorrow, I have no doctor’s appointments. I’ll use that time to talk to the high schoolers at Hollywood Chrysler Jeep and see if I can get an appointment to get the jeep’s recall fixed, the headlight changed, and the check engine like assessed.

I have several invites upcoming. I had to cancel the Christmas light tour with Chris last night. I just didn’t have the energy. I have lunch on Sunday with two friends and then with Michel and Nancy on Christmas Day. The day after, I have lunch with two more friends. I’m not sure I’ll be able to make any of them. Hopefully the Lyrica will help with the neuropathy and I’ll start to feel better. The good news is my glucose has dropped these last few days so perhaps I’m coming off the prednisone, finally. That means my adrenals should be picking up their function and I should start to feel better.

I just hate having to say to people wanting to do something with me “it depends.” That gets old for them and for me.

Stay tuned!