Checking in for 2023-11-28:
Today was a bit of a whirlwind. I woke up a little before 9am, which meant I had about an hour to get ready for my doctor's appointment. This also required getting Pixel properly maintained with watering, food, and treats, which need to be done in a certain order and with a certain amount of ritual. Ritual was the last thing on my mind this morning as I just wanted the morning to be over with.
Of course because I was in a rush that's when everything wanted attention, including Pixel.
Just before I was heading out the door I got a call from the nuclear medicine folks to schedule my PET scan (good) so that'll be happening next week in the morning. Hoping for some positive progress in my prognosis but not getting my hopes up. Again, it's a data point and we take the data as it comes. I've watched enough The Curse of Oak Island to know not to get my hopes up over what appears to be positive results.
Dr. Jaiyesimi was in the room before my lab results were in, which was surprising. I didn't even have a chance to pull out my computer like I usually do. We talked for a bit and I had his full attention (which sometimes can be rare as he's the head of oncology at Corewell Health / Beaumont). So that too was a positive result.
Speaking of positive results, apparently my Red Blood Cell Hemoglobin Count was high enough (9.3) that I didn't need a Epoetin alfa (nee: Procrit) shot, so I'll take that as a win. My blood pressure is still pretty high though so I'm hoping to do some more exercise to get those numbers to go down.
Edit: 9.3 for hemoglobin is still pretty low, but not critically so. Unfortunately there's a shortage of Procrit so they held off for now so others who have more need can get served. I can abide that.
My blood pressure continues to be high though, so I'm continuing with the Losartan. Dr. Jaiyesimi believes this is the result of the Bevacizumab (nee: Avastin, Mvasi, Zirabev) that I'm taking. It's unfortunately a common side-effect of these drugs. Hopefully we can get it under some control. Going to continue monitoring it to see what happens.
I was in a pretty good mood so I stopped at the fancy Meijer on Woodward and picked up some Spicy K-rab sushi for lunch, along with some other goodies that we have trouble finding during our normal grocery shopping (Amy's Tofu Scramble, for one).
Talked with my parents a bit while Pixel slept next to me on the bed. I then had the temerity to disturb her snooziness by getting up and working more on the Pepper&Carrot RPG. I managed to get some momentum under me this time around and added a section for Fate Veterans and other minor fixes.
Tonight I have a meeting and need to clean out the cat bathroom that I use whenever I have chemo. Tomorrow morning is chemo. I'm feeling pretty optimistic about things and pretty relaxed overall. Hoping to continue the trend.
More as I know it.