Winter/Spring 2024

 

 

I had another PETscan to see if the immunotherapy and the radiation had done it’s job. Of course it did! 

BUT… (You know there’s always a BUT with me, right?!?)

This time the lymph nodes that lit up were just below my esophagus and on the RIGHT collar bone (the time before it was the LEFT collar bone). 

Man, I was really hoping I could take some time off from all the things my body has been going through. 

Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my medical team and truly enjoy spending time with them. But all this ‘Stuff’ is exhausting. Literally. The fatigue from the radiation alone easily sends me into nap mode.

You’ve seen the meme - the one where you’ve made plans and hours later, you realize that you aren’t as young and full of energy as you once had. That’s me. 

Every. Single. Day. 

In addition to all of this ‘Fun’ I was having - the severe gastritis was still kicking my tail every day. 

The good news is that once I saw the counselor, my body gave itself permission to drop the weight. Within six months, I had lost over 100 pounds.  I’m still losing, but not as quickly - and I would be pleased as spiked punch to lose at least another 50. 

So, back to Winter/Spring of 2024.

Severe Gastritis. Check.

Serious Cough. Check. Possibly from radiation, and even though I tested negative with my at home Covid test, the docs think I may have had it - but we didn’t catch it in time to do anything about it, other than monitor. 

6 weeks of Radiation. Check. 

Counseling. Deemed no longer necessary.

On top of all of this - I reconnected with a former roommate from 40 years ago. We got to talking about all of our friends from that era in our lives and we decided we needed to plan a friends reunion.  While I assumed I would be getting some help with the planning, it turned out the bulk of it fell on my shoulders - because apparently I had all this time on my hands.  I honestly don’t think she realizes just how much of a toll all of this medical stuff has taken on my body and the mental and physical fatigue involved. 

Until next time… 

This week’s #WhenIDieMakeSureMyNailsAreDone