finally friday

still sick. by last night/this morning i was itching so bad (mostly my hands) i couldn't sleep, couldn't read, couldn't watch tv, couldn't do anything except scratch.

when i called my doctor's office yesterday to tell them about red itchy patches all over my body, they set up an appointment for me to see the nurse practitioner before my CT scan. she prescribed a steroid (prednisone) for me to begin taking tomorrow. she thinks it was the combo of the antibiotics and the contrast dye that caused my reaction.

after our visit, they took me back to the chemo room and pumped me full of benedryl (love!) and steroids (hate.) to relieve the itching, burning, and swelling. it seems to have worked, the itching is less severe; but i still feel like i am being burned from the inside out.

that drug combo was pretty trippy though, let me tell ya. it was sort of like being drunk, only not nearly as fun...there was no music, no dancing, no cute boys...just me and a bunch of other sickos.

after that i had the CT. no biggy there...just drank a ton of crappy tasting stuff, waited an hour for it to work its way into my system, slammed a smaller amount of the crappy tasting stuff, got put into a tube, held my breath, got more contrast dye injected into my body, held my breath some more, and that was it.

while i was there, they did my pre-chemo bloodwork and i am happy to report that my counts are high enough for chemo on monday. in fact, they are the highest i've seen them since i've been keeping track. crazy...i thought they would be low since i've been sick all week and am so extremely tired.

3.5 hours later, i finally got to leave. i then made a trip to the pharmacy to pick up more drugs. i am home now and i am going to try to lay down for a bit and (hopefully) get some (non-itchy) rest.

i should get the results of the bone and CT scans on monday when i see dr. doane before my treatment.

that's all i got people...that's really all that's happening with me. itchin', scratchin', and druggin'.

hope you have a great (itch-free) weekend!

update: my doctor's office just called to let me know the bone and CT scans both came back "stable". the fluid that is in the lining of my lung has decreased from the last CT.

now that, my friends, is a perfectly acceptable way to end an utterly awful week!

warning: you might be able to handle this. it made me cry all 3 times i have watched it (scratch that...4 times now, I had to make sure it worked). have a tissue handy if you're brave enough to push play:

(i KNOW! don't say i didn't warn you.)