Skip to main content

Killing two birds with one stone

Being I had 3 relatively intense bike rides this weekend, and I'm not planning on riding today, I thought I'd take this opportunity to update everyone on Edie.

But before I do that, I wanted to apologize to any subscribers who may have received duplicate and/or triplicate notifications of posts. There was a glitch in my Subscribe2 plug in when I upgraded my blogging software. I have since fixed that problem, and you should no longer receive duplicate and triplicate notifications. Of course, you may not receive any notifications, so this post is also a test of that fix.

Ok, enough with the administrative stuff!

Last Friday, Edie had her catheter (the one for her dialysis) removed.

She had been resistant to this prospect initially, since she was concerned her kidney problems would return, requiring her to start dialysis again, and she didn't want to have to go through reinserting it. Apparently inserting it was somewhat painful.

The nephrologist was concerned that if the catheter was left in too long, it could become infected, and I had heard stories about muscle tissue, or whatever, growing around the catheter, making the removal even more difficult and painful.

Eventually, after her last creatinine test was still below 3.0, she relented, and it was removed.

I was hoping that would boost her spirits some, but it seems to have done more to boost my spirits than hers.

Edie also stopped taking Ativan 3 times a day for anxiety. I was unaware she was taking this drug, but it sure answered the question why she was sleeping more than Morris.

Fortunately the drowsiness was the only side effect she experienced, and hopefully she won't take this drug any more, as I just discovered there are quite a few other more serious side effects, I'm not interested in learning about first hand.

Other than that, everything else is normal. Edie's counts are all still good, and this is her week off from chemo, so I'm guardedly optimistic, she she'll be back to her usual self very soon.
Labels:

Comments

Becky said…
I'm glad to hear Edie is doing better. Is she getting her energy back?

How old is Morris?
1:29 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The results are in

And I am iron deficient, big time. [Which would account for my low hemoglobin] Test Result Ref Range IRON 30 59-158 mcg/dL TOTAL IRON BINDING CAPACITY 231 250-420 mcg/dL IRON SAT 13 20-50 % My Ferritin levels were good, but that could be because Ferritin is also an "acute phase reactant", that is sometimes increased with acute or chronic disease. Folate and B12 levels were also within the normal range. The only problem now is determining what is causing the iron deficiency, which in the case of men, is [very] rare. My oncologist has given me a Globin Fecal test to perform, and has scheduled me for a consultation with a colorectal surgeon to discuss performing a colonoscopy, which could be problematic because of my large spleen. In the mean time, I've decided to start taking an iron supplement, it's only the quantity that is causing me some consternation. I've been told by a very knowledgeable person that to overcome an iron deficiency, I need to be taking 300 mg o...
5 comments
Read more

This is just one of those days

It's one of those days you just want to sit around the house and do absolutely nothing, or watch some movies you have recorded. It might even be a good day to read a book, if you were so inclined, which I am not. As you should be able to see from the view out my bedroom window, it is raining outside. The rain started last night, and hasn't let up since. I can't complain too much though, as this is the rainy season, and we do need the rain. Plus Monday's are typically my day off from exercise, so I will surprise everyone, and not complain. I just feel sorry for anyone who might be visiting from, say Argentina, like a friend of mine (fellow MCLer), who happens to be in Cambria today. He might be a little disappointed. Fortunately the rest of the week, when he will be in LA, will be nice, and the real intent of his trip was to visit his son in Tahoe, who works at one of the ski resorts, and ski, so I know he's not complaining too much either. This weather will actually...
6 comments
Read more

When is enough, enough?

Today I learned, Lance Armstrong, the most drug tested athlete in the history of sport, is being accused of doping, again . This time by the US Anti Doping Agency (USADA), who claim they have collected blood samples from him in 2009 and 2010 that were “fully consistent with blood manipulation including EPO use and/or blood transfusions.” Really! What took them so long? The French have been trying to make allegations of drug doping stick for years, ever since he won his first Tour d'France, but to no avail. And now the USADA claims to have evidence to support that claim, and they've waited almost 3 years before releasing this evidence. Needless to say, I am skeptical. Then there's this from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO): Increasing the federal excise tax on cigarettes by 50 cents per pack eventually would increase Medicare and Social Security spending, slightly. Eventually? What is the CBO suggesting here? That we should encourage smoking, because if we don't, in...
11 comments
Read more