Feb 23 - 24 - Last Chemo (KOW) :-)

Feb 23, 08:00
I have a busy day planned.
First, my last blood test is this morning.
I have a prosthesis appointment at 13:00 to get the leg adjusted for my new shoes.
Then at 14:00 I have a physio appointment.

Tomorrow will be my last chemo for awhile. I have done 16 weeks of weekly blood tests and chemo. I am looking forward to no needles for 6 weeks.
I am also looking forward to finding out how much of my chemical imbalances are chemo related, and how much are drugs related. I believe my narcolepsy is chemically induced from the chemo. That is why I will wait about 5 days after my last chemo before I will risk the drive to George.

My eating habits will improve while I am being fed by Maddie in George.
 I think that eating only a hand full of rice a day, is healthier than eating a box of Twinkies and a bag of Doritos. Healthy eating isn't only about eating healthy food, it is also about NOT eating unhealthy food.
Except that some foods, such as ice cream, are nourishment for the soul, not the body. :-)

Today is cool and cloudy. A relief from the high temperatures from the last week. This whole week should be cool and cloudy with afternoon rains.

Yesterday I walked 2.0km in 41 minutes.
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16:00
Blood taking was normal. Hopefully I will not see the blood ladies again soon.

I had a long list for Bradley, the prosthesis guy .
Bradley says he has a good friend, Allan Oats that does prosthesis in George, and he recommends him highly. He says I'll be in good hands for any emergencies while in George.

He grounded off part of the socket.

He adjusted the leg for the new shoes.

He changed the setting to be better for faster walking.

Whew...Physio was rough, Leonie must have some Nazi blood in her. :-) We first went over all the exercises she wants me to do while in George. Then we did all the exercises. Then she played like she was my girlfriend, and had me explain each exercise to her and teach her how to help with each one. There are about 10 exercises, and maybe half need a partner.
Maddie and I will have to go shopping in George for exercise toys. I'll need a brick, a tennis ball, a soccer/basket ball, and a heavier sand filled ball.
I had to shower when I got home.

In the parking lot was an Indian guy selling samosas, so I bought lunch.

The physio has me tired, but also lots of Phantom pain. I am trying to cut down on drugs. I have picked a bad time to do that.
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Feb 24, 18:00

I ran out of pre-paid internet last night and couldn't publish yesterday's blog.

Today I first went to the prosthesis place and got some stump socks. Many people on the internet use stump socks.
When I wake up in the morning my stump is a bit large, and won't go into the socket as far as it should. So I walk around with the leg too long for a few hours. I sleep with a compression sock on the stump at night, and it helps, but not 100%.
By around noon the leg fits perfect. This is usually the time I go for my walks.
The fiberglass socket is shaped like a cone, so as the day progresses and I keep putting weight on the leg, it squeezes the stump and forces it to get smaller.
By around 2 or 3 in the afternoon, the stump is fitting too far down into the socket. As the volume  between the stump and the socket bottom gets less, the vacuum tends to get more. This extra strong vacuum makes blood blisters on the bottom of the stump. This can be painful.
The stump being too far into the socket not only makes the leg too short, but it allows the stump to hit the bottom of the socket.  This also is painful, and it is often on the blisters.

Bradley came up with two ideas. They make soft "volume control pads" to fit in the bottom of the socket to decrease the volume between the socket and the stump. This helps to reduce the vacuum, and the soft pads keep the stump off the bottom. He also gave me some stump socks. Because I don't have a problem with the bottom of my stump, the socks have the ends removed. I put them up high near my groin and hip. This widens the upper part of the stump, so the leg doesn't go in as far. He gave me 3 socks, so as the stump shrinks, I can keep adding socks.
Some guys on the internet have stumps that shrink a lot. They may add up to 5 socks as the day progresses.

I next went to get the blood test results. My Leucolytes (white blood cell) count was fine. My Haemoglobin count was the lowest it has ever been. So I recon Maddie will be feeding me chicken livers. Yech!

I was early, so I checked in with the chemo place on my way to get coffee at the restaurant. They said they had a cancellation, and could start me then. I went straight in.
All chemo patients have an interview with the oncologist before each session. Since I was early, she quickly asked if everything was OK, and I said yes. She said she would talk with me after chemo instead.
They started the IV and the four pre-chemo bags of chemicals, then started the actual chemo drug, Paclitaxel. I saw this bag was labeled 152mg, where I normally have 132mg. It is normally chilled, and I could feel the cold go in the arm. Air tends to stay in solution of the Paclitaxel, so they put a 2 micron filter in the line to trap any air bubbles. This dose of Taxel was very milky with trapped air particles, and it was cooler than normal, so less air escaped the solution.

After about 10 minutes the drip stopped. They pushed and pulled the IV in my arm, to try to get it flowing. They decided that they needed a different vein for the IV.
They put in another needle and IV. Grrr...
This one also failed to flow, so they tried another Vein and IV. GGGRRRRR!!!!!
Now my sense of humor had fled the room.

I start trying to trouble shoot the IV system. It must be very similar to aircraft hydraulic landing gear. Right? So I shooed the nurses away, and squeezed the hose. When I squeezed near the IV, the little bubbles moved back and forth like they should. If I squeezed up at the bag no bubbles moved, so obviously there was a blockage. I then squeezed on each side of the filter. On the IV side the bubbles moved, and on the bag side nothing moved. Therefore the filter was blocked.
I explained that if the Taxel solution is too cold, then there will be too much air, and the filter will get full of air, and this will not allow any fluid to flow. I told them to bring me a different filter, and I would change it. I must have said something blasphemous. They looked shocked, and sort of backed off and then said THEY would change the line AND the filter.
Of course then the Taxel started flowing again.
After I chatted with the oncologist, she gave me a form to get blood checked in George after 3 weeks. Then she gave a 6 week prescription for all the drugs I will need. She will call the PET/CT scan people after reading the blood results after 3 weeks, then the PET people will call me with a date for the PET scan, and I'll drive back to Pretoria. So the next time I'll see the Oncologist will be when I have the PET results in my hand.

My precious wind up, single handed watch took a real hard knock today, but thankfully it kept on working.

Now to sleep lots, or stay awake lots, what ever the chemo Gods proclaim for the next few days. Then to start packing the car for the trip. I can't wait to "be on the road again".
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PS: KOW = Knock On Wood