Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Kidney Saga part 75

For future reference: after an infusion I need a small dinner that is easily digested.

Yeah, I ate too much, too fast, and the one side-effect of Cytoxan that I already knew I was susceptible to didn't just come and visit, it came and HURT me. Two weeks ago I remember my stomach flipping out much of the time after the infusion. I knew they gave me an anti-nausea (zofran) before giving me the Cytoxan. But I still went and ate too much and ate it too fast. And paid the price. When I looked up the side-effects, vomiting was on the list of "don't need to immediately call the doctor" so I didn't.

Anyway, I'll know for next time. Something easy and light after the infusion, not a heavy-ish meal.

Except for that incident, and the the extreme exhaustion that accompanied it, yesterday wasn't too bad. I had a quiet morning, got a little writing done and some gaming in. I was able to take care of myself most of the morning. At about noon, we headed out to Prosser to get the Monday blood work done. The awesome tech who is really good at blood draws (an older Hispanic woman who is so grandmotherly I want to hug her every time) was my tech. She's never missed once, always hitting a vein on the first try.

After the blood draw, it was out to Kennewick and the infusion center. They got me in a little early, and the tech only made two tries to get an IV into my arm. The IV was not painless, but it didn't exactly hurt. It was just slightly uncomfortable. It was also one of those really bleedy ones that made a big mess. But it worked.


They pumped 1300 ml of liquid into me, which is almost as much as my daily fluid allowance. Most of it was saline. I'm going to be using the toilet a lot today.

Unlike last time, the infusion center was fairly calm and quiet, so the infusion went smoothly and only took about two hours total. I again read for most of the time, on my phone, "The Twisted Ones" by T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon). It is excellent and was a good distraction from what was happening around me. I didn't quite finish, but I will wrap it up in the next few days. With three more infusions to go, I'll load more books onto my Kindle app soon. I also brought a back-up graphic novel, but didn't need to dip into it. It's easier to hold my phone while being infused than a graphic novel.

Eric and I got home before 5pm, which was nice. Inkwell had a lot to say about us being away for five hours, but calmed down once he'd been fed.

I had dinner around 6pm, and at 7pm started to have severe indigestion. It was the kind that makes you groan and moan because it hurts so much. I was really annoyed at it, and then... well, Eric grabbed a bucket for me, but I managed to get to the bathroom before it started. Both Eric and Inkwell were there by my side in the bathroom for a bit. Inkwell came in after Eric realized he couldn't help me any more and left. Inkwell stayed to monitor me until it all stopped. I found it amusing. He's a good cat in many ways.

After my stomach calmed enough to escape the bathroom I went to bed and fell asleep, only waking long enough for my evening insulin and pills. And I've been asleep since then... about 10 hours of sleep. I probably needed it badly.

Today's goal is to keep my food down, rest, and try not to worry about life. I'm guessing I will have to stay away from the news if I want to do that, but maybe I can manage it for a single day. We'll see.

Full Kidney Saga --- Start Here --- Kidney Wish List --- GoFundMe

0 comments: