Thursday, March 14, 2024

13: Another mixed bag - some good, some not so good. Life goes on.

The healing powers of the great outdoors

I was able to get in two, two-mile walks at Bobcat Ridge in the past two weeks. Didn’t go very fast or far, but it feels so good to be outdoors and get some exercise. Thanks to Irene Shonle and Cindy Catherman (and Vivi!) for the inspiration to get out and do it!

Stunning clouds at Bobcat Ridge

Anne!

My best friend from our NJ school days shows up tomorrow if today’s snowstorm doesn’t delay things too much. She’s lived in southern CA so long I’m not even sure if she owns any shoes OTHER than sneakers, hiking shoes and sandals. She’s coming to attend my mom’s memorial service on Saturday, and stay with me while Joel and Jay make a quick visit to our place in NM to check on things and play a bit.

Anne and I from 1982 in Boulder.

Critical levels

Two of the six markers in my twice-weekly CBCs (complete blood counts) have been holding relatively steady (platelets [blood clotting agents] and neutrophils [first line of immunity defense]) - until today, that is. Both have dropped again, so back I go onto the full regimen of prophylactic meds. The other four (white & red blood cells, hemoglobin, and lymphocytes) continue to drop, but at a rate much slower than  initially. I’ve now gone 3 weeks between whole blood infusions (where it used to be weekly or every other week). This is pretty normal as we’ve been told that the RBCs are the last to show improvement. They’ve been giving me magnesium (Mg) every Monday but are now adding potassium (K) to make sure I maintain adequate levels of these two key electrolytes.

They’ve also now added a monthly pentamidine inhalation treatment which is used to prevent a serious form of pneumonia, Pneumocystis carinii. I sit in a tent in the Respiratory Therapy unit at Poudre Valley Hospital, breathe in the medicine through a tube in my mouth and drool incessantly until the treatment is over. Great fun, indeed!

New lucky llama

A cousin in Mississippi sent me a “Llucky Llama” in a package of goodies last week. Unbeknownst to her, the first LL had just been passed on to a neighbor undergoing treatment for throat cancer. I see this new guy as one more talisman and good luck buddy to get us through this journey successfully.

My new llucky llama from Charlotte

Now you know - the Star Trek edition #5

Last Monday while getting an infusion, I looked around the center and realized how many of us sitting in those chairs, surrounded by poles and bags and support people, have ports implanted in our chests, just like the Jem’Hadar soldiers of the Dominion in ST Deep Space Nine, circa 2372 in the Gamma Quadrant. It was used to give them doses of Ketracel-white. “Ketracel-white (or simply white) was a chemical compound created to be an addictive narcotic that contained an isogenic enzyme. One of the active ingredients of white was yridium bicantizine. The Jem'Hadar soldiers of the Dominion were genetically-engineered to lack the enzyme which white provided, and required frequent doses of the drug to survive. The white also provided all the nutrients they required, alleviating them of the need to eat or drink.” So essentially, they couldn't survive without white, and without these ports it could not be so easily administered.

A Jem'Hadar soldier and his ketracel-white port

In our cases in 2024 in the Alpha Quadrant, these ports also allow life-saving substances to be more easily administered. I guess we can be considered soldiers in the fights for our lives. I'm always thrilled when real life mimics the technology of science fiction!

New test results today - not where I wanted to be, but you can't win every inning, I suppose.

Click to play: Wrong Way Feelin'

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