First, Ron had his second chemo treatment yesterday. He is having no negative reaction to the chemo. Yesterday's infusion was only one bag -- Gemzar. It's the easier of the two drugs Ron gets. We would have been out of there in a short while had not the infusion nurses been f*cking around. Long story and one of my posts will be a copy/paste of the narration I'm keeping of how the medical community in general: fucks up; has lost perspective of the individual; has lost empathy; and forgets that it is in the details mistakes originate!
The worst thing that's happened to Ron, and we don't think it's cancer or chemo related, is the "rash." It's more than a rash. It is ... god.. it is a huge problem, mostly on his legs. The minor skin issue that started a year ago -- long before cancer and chemo -- progressed through the months to now being a blistery, weepy, itchy, extremely painful major skin issue that had the dermatologist stumped. To aid in a diagnosis, Ron attended dermatology grand rounds at Albany Med this past Thursday. More than two dozen dermatologist looked at him, taking pictures, poking and proding and oohing and ahhing about how it must hurt.
Do ya think it hurts, doc???? My poor husband has been in agony for 6 days. Up until today, he has been withdrawn, sleeping upwards of 16 hours a day, unable to tolerate anything on his legs unless he was completely still. I've known Ron only three years, but in those months, I have never known him to be so solitary and remote.
The consensus of the doctors from Thursday's show and tell is that Ron has drug-induced lupus. I'm not buying that diagnosis, but at least it gave the dermatologist a reason to prescribe prednisone. Of course a debacle about putting him on the medicine ensued when the oncologist's office would not speak with the dermatologist about it, but that's another post where I vent about fucked-up doctors.
So Ron, who gets prednisone at each chemo treatment, is now on prednisone to help relieve the symptoms of whatever skin problem he has. It's working somewhat. The itch is almost gone and the intense pain is now just regular pain. Pain is relative, of course, so it all still hurts a lot, but since it's less than at the worst, Ron is feeling mentally and emotionally better.
Phew.... I really did a good job of not going on and on about the madhouse our lives have been the past 10 days.
We went to PA a week ago today to visit Ron's daughter and family. Ron was itchy with his "skin issue" but wasn't in pain yet. We had a great visit. The ride down was particularly lovely because instead of going south on the Thruway to I-84, we took the scenic route down Route 30 to the PA border. It is soooooooo gorgeous!!
I had Ember Rois two days this week: Tuesday and Thursday. She was a golden girl most of the time. Her protests when leaving parks and playgrounds are minimal and though she may cry, she holds my hand and is more cooperative than not. I told her I was very proud of the way she cooperated, and she said, "But I did cry, Grandma. I wasn't a good girl." I told her she gets a "good girl" from me because she didn't cry much nor did she struggle when it was time to go.
Weather - We've had great weather this week. It was definitely sandal and short weather. Today is a bit cooler with a good breeze, but it was sunny all day.
Gas prices - They continue to rise. Cumberland Farm in Glenmont is $2.45 a gallon.
Random Thoughts - Why do doctors think it's OK to walk away from a patient in pain? When will my washing machine be fixed? Ironic that my husband sells and services GE/Hotpoint appliances but is too ill to fix our own machine.
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