December 12, 2014

Two of three problems fixed

1. A head cold since November 8th;
2. A sinus infection since last week;
3. Anemia (low red blood cell count)

In somewhat different order:

Last week the pounding in my head and pain in my sinuses was clearly, in my experience, a sinus infection of great magnitude. It took me a few days to get a referral and an appointment with an ear-nose-throat doctor (ENT). Yet another one of my ever-growing medical specialists, Dr Burgoyne diagnosed me right away, prescribed antibiotics, and told me to call by Thursday if things hadn't improved. Which they have.

At Wednesday's chemo session, Dr G took a look at my labs and told the nurse I had anemia and needed a blood transfusion. This has happened only once before over these past 12+ years. (I love saying "12+ years!") They type and cross your blood each time and yes, I'm still O+, and give you Benadryl and Tylenol before you get the blood.

On Thursday I received two liters of blood, which took almost seven hours, from 9:30 am to 4 pm. I picked up a mocha on the way to the hospital and noshed on chocolate throughout the day. Plus I had the usual delicious Swedish lunch of soup, tuna sandwich on rye, and chips for the second day in a row. I napped most of the day but did manage to read the newspaper. I drove home and went to bed at 6:00.

Today I felt in recovery mode after being at Swedish two days in a row. I slept in, eventually waking up to shower, change the sheets, start laundry, feed myself, etc. My friend G and I were supposed to go to the local Star Trek convention today, but I lacked the energy. I didn't even have enough energy to walk the dogs, so they have been canoodling with me all day instead and nobody complained. Rik will be home soon and he will walk them. I'll roast a chicken in honor of Shabbat and the fact that my cheeks are now pink once more!

PS I still have the head cold. What can you do? Send me some virtual chicken soup, please.

1 comment:

  1. sinus infections are nasty! Chicken noodle soup is great for a head cold but also try hot water or herb tea full of lemon and honey. good luck!

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