July 2007 Archives

Yesterday I got confirmation from a very competent clinician that my infection has been eradicated. Or, if you prefer the military analogies, the Vancomycin troops with the help of the White Swarm Defence Agency have ended the attempted takeover of the Left Arm.

Dr. Portnoy, the infectious diseases doctor and very competent clinician also said that I could stop the antibiotics that were killing me. Part of the reason me going to see him was for him to give the okay. Thank God he did.

I also saw my oncologist today and he said that if my fever stopped spiking for 48 hours and that there was nothing else untoward happening, that I could safely start my chemo on Thursday. Same thing from the internal medicine resident. But I declined and decided to put it off a week. My mind can't handle all that stuff happening at once.

So I get a week off, with nothing in my arms but a stupid clot.

I was going to get all creative and tell you all about the week in hospital that I went through last week using war metaphors and so on, but I can't keep that up.

I took Vancomycin twice a day last week. This is what happened. My arm would erupt in mind-splitting pain requiring morphine twice a day. My temperature would spike twice a day as well. If I had my choice, I would take the pain corrected by morphine.

The swelling in my arm was all but gone by Thursday night, as was the pain. Even the high temps were under control, so they discharged me Friday afternoon with some Vancomycin that I take intravenously. Of course, as soon as I got home, the temperature went through the roof again and has yo-yo'd ever since. Most of my time (more than 15 hours a day) is spent with a high temperature and me squirming around because of it.

I should note that my surgeon thinks that something fishy is going on. I should not be suffering this much. It should not go on like this. He says that once you remove the line from a line infection, you should be fine within 24 hours, so something is promoting these bacteria. My third round of chemo was supposed to start last Thursday, and has been delayed to this Thursday assuming that I can get rid of the bacteria. He has a different perspective than everyone else; we have to get this taken care of ASAP because the tumour is not getting treated as it should. His idea is we get rid of the vein altogether, and I am beginning to think likewise, because I can't take this anymore. I take Tylenol to try to control the spikes, but it does less and less. Basically, I take the Vancomycin for two hours, and suffer for around six. I can't sleep for more than 15-20 minutes at a time.

I just can't do it anymore.

Please, if you have any suggestions, leave a comment.

UPDATE: 7:38 am: I just noticed a slightly sensitive swelling in my throat. I have an appointment with an infectious diseases doctor in two hours. Let's hope we can actually get somewhere.

continued from here:

MONTREAL: On the advice of several generals, the Regent Alston Adams has ordered a complete lockdown of the country.

"Restricting overall movement in the country allows us to better focus on the task at hand, namely discovering exactly who these insurgents are and stopping them," says Adams.

Lieutenant-General Rahmani has dispatched Vancomycin troops to help control the situation. "The insurgents have more control over the Left Arm than even before. Hopefully this will stop them early."

...continued from here

MONTREAL - As a result of the terrorist activities in West Basilicus yesterday, a war consultant, Martin Chasen, was brought into advise the president as well as Cmmdr Cytos Amoebos.

"Our plan is to send in a few special shock troops from the top and bottom, crushing them. With the extra aid of the Neupogen fighters, they should make short work of the insurgents. There's a possibility that fighting continue after 24 hours, but that will never happen."

Nine hours later the insurgents had not only completely taken over northern West Basilicus, but their activities caused major environmental damage. Flooding and swelling of rivers and tributaries was experienced from West Subclavia to the Southern Left Arm. Residents are outraged.

Other consultants were brought in later that evening to try to quell the situation, and they were more realistic.

General Robert Lalonde says, "As with most modern terrorists, we don't know who they are or exactly how they are pulling off these attacks. Our initial response is to send in some specialized tactical groups to assist the Defence Force. We'll get a better idea of what we are up against after that."

MONTREAL - Insurgents in northern West Basilicus, upset with the insertion of the temporary pipeline put in place by the government on June 6, have started attacking the area in the small hours of the morning of July 12.

Government officials say that they did not expect anything of this scale. "We've had minor skirmishes over the past month, but nothing that wasn't put down within a few minutes, an hour tops," says Cytos Amoebos, head of the White Swarm Defence Agency. "Especially since we have been reinforced by Neupogen fighters. We have so many we barely know what to do with them."

"We expect to have this taken care of by mid-day."

The temporary pipeline was put in place by the government in a controversial move to help remove an overgrowth of twisted, mutated flora and fauna in South Gullet. This flora and fauna threatened to overtake other regions until eventually, the whole country would fall. The cost to using the chemicals in the pipeline were quite high, but temporary, including the loss of certain forests, and the malfunctioning of Goûtama Analysis Lab.

UPDATE: As of 2:30 pm EST, the insurgents have successfully forced the removal of the pipeline. A dam has been erected through much of northern West Basilicus by the insurgents, severely impeding the flow of vital resources to the Southern Left Arm.

Residents are outraged. Said one man, "Why isn't this government doing more about these terrorists? They ignored them, and now look at where we are! The region is starting to flood, crops are being destroyed...I don't know what I will do."

A consultant is being brought in tomorrow to help deal with the situation.

If ever you were wondering what was under the wrapping on my arm, this is it. Note the well formed hole where the PICC line enters. If I am lucky, it will be removed in less than two weeks. It's been there since June 6 and I am getting tired of it.

This is exactly how I felt this morning. If I don't make it to Yulblog tonight, that's why. Get your own avatar here.

Yesterday I had delicious spaghetti (singular: spaghetto. did you know that?) at Pizza Napoletane. It was what people who've been to Italy call "real spaghetti". I could eat less than half of before I had to stop. I had it put into a doggy bag and left with a satisfied Rose, who enjoyed a very pretty pizza. That was yesterday around 12:30 pm.

It is 10:15 am Sunday morning and I haven't eaten anything (except two cans of Ensure, if you call that eating) since then.

Christ, if only weight loss were my goal. Symptoms are setting in very early. I STINK of chemicals. You should have smelled the shirt that I was in Thursday when I got my second round of chemo. Wow. And everything else smells much more than if did. If we had mice, I could smell them farting.

I've just prepared some eggs with toast. Good stuff, made just the way I like it. But when it comes to eating it, I have to undergo a process, because food is actually a little repulsive now.

1. Concentrate on the bite to eat. It's GOOD. You know it's good.
   
2. Get it into your mouth. You can do it. Just slowly get it in there.
   
3. Add some toast. Or egg if toast was the first bite.
   
4. What now? Oh yes. Chew. Come on, chew. Keep going. Chew and taste. You can still taste how good it is. You still have your sense of taste. Keep going. Chew.
   
5. And here's the hard part. Swallow. I know how comfortable it feels in your mouth just sitting there. It never seems to get annoying, does it? But that's because your mouth is lying to you right now. You have to force it to do what needs doing. Besides, it's been nearly a day since you've eaten solid food. Think of the stomach satisfaction when that first bite hits the stomach. Mmmm. So just...swallow that bite. It's the best thing.
   And don't fucking vomit.
   
6. Repeat until done.

I am still trying to get it down. (Need more toast with this egg. Damnit, I wish I had some juice.) I hope that I can get other things down today. And here I was thinking that I was more of less okay. Cumulative effect indeed. Can't wait until my third round.

I just can't believe how much this sucks, and it's only the beginning. So much for a positive attitude. And my poor team at work is there all weekend. I have good reasons for being here, and I don't regret that, but I feel bad for them working on a weekend/holiday. I can't even check up on them because for some reason I cannot access my computer.

Aaanyway.