First off, look at the purple "badge" at the top of the page. Our blog was selected by Healthline as one of the best prostaate cancer blogs for 2015. We made Number 7. That's pretty cool! Here is a link to the full list of prostate cancer blogs on the list for those of you who follow our blog during your own cancer journey and may want to read what others are saying: www.healthline.com/health-slideshow/best-prostate-cancer-blogs.
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Now, back to Marshall: He did not go with me to Pueblo on Tuesday. He preferred to sleep in. So I called Gina to come up and then I went and got the car fixed and got some lab work done.
On Wednesday, the physical therapist was here and she feels like he can be on his own now with regard to exercising so she discharged him again. She says if in the future we feel like he needs her again, we should just call.
Tomorrow I go for my stress test. Marshall has said he wants to go with me, but I'm thinking it will be another "sleep in" day. Which is okay with me. I would probably be worried about hin the whole time anyway.
He has been really sleeping in a lot lately. He stays up and watches TV and then sleeps until 10:30 or 11:00 every day. He is still pain free.
He got a call this week from the place that stores his motorcycle telling him he needs to get it moved because they are doing renovations to the building. So next Wednesday we need to get the trailer over there and get the bike out. The guy who owns the storage building is a biker and he will help us get the bike into the trailer since Marshall really doesn't have the strength or the balance to get on the bike at this point, much less actually drive it. We need to get the bike into the shop for various repairs anyway, so we will just take it straight to the shop and leave it -- and the trailer -- until the repairs are done.
We had a conversation yesterday about driving. I'm not totally comfortable with him driving because he is still so wobbly. And he is not totally comfortable with me because of this whole A-fib thing. We periodically talk about moving to Denver to be closer to medical care, but then the enormity of the whole process (selling this house, driving up to Denver regularly to look at houses, doing the mortgage paperwork, closing, packing, moving, unpacking, etc.) is more than I can envision.
In addition, the housing market right now is definitely a seller's market. We contacted a few real estate agents and they send us emails when houses come on the market that meet our wish list. Well, practically as soon as we click on the listing and look at it, it disappears because it got a contract already. There's no way we can work fast enough under those circumstances! So we stay where we are and hope for the best.
Thursday, May 7, 2015
Monday, May 4, 2015
Nothing much going on
It's been quiet and uneventful.
I still haven't had an A-Fib episode (to speak of) since April 30.
Marshall is doing his exercises and with the physical therapist this morning he even took a walk outside.
Tomorrow we are going to go to Pueblo and try to get the back door of our Highlander fixed so that it will open automatically again. Marshall will go with me because he "doesn't want a babysitter."
He also plans to go with me on Friday when I go for my stress test. He'll have his power chair and he can run around the hospital while he's waiting for me to get done. My friend Glenda, who has been taking me to my appointments, fell off a ladder and is in the hospital herself with a bunch of fractures, so she didn't think she could drive me this time! :)
I still haven't had an A-Fib episode (to speak of) since April 30.
Marshall is doing his exercises and with the physical therapist this morning he even took a walk outside.
Tomorrow we are going to go to Pueblo and try to get the back door of our Highlander fixed so that it will open automatically again. Marshall will go with me because he "doesn't want a babysitter."
He also plans to go with me on Friday when I go for my stress test. He'll have his power chair and he can run around the hospital while he's waiting for me to get done. My friend Glenda, who has been taking me to my appointments, fell off a ladder and is in the hospital herself with a bunch of fractures, so she didn't think she could drive me this time! :)
Friday, May 1, 2015
Doctor appointment today
Yesterday the physical therapist came to the house and as she was taking Marshall through some exercises, his right knee gave out and he slid to the floor. But he was aable to get himself situated and get back up by himself, so that was a good thing.
Marshall and I both had a doctor appointment today with our primary care doctor. He saw us both at once, kind of cool.
With regard to me, I brought the doctor up to speed on my recent diagnosis of Afib. He checked me out and, at least at the time of the appointment, my heart rate was completely normal. I haven't had an episode for two full days now. I will report back to him after I see the cardiologist in June. I continue to take the magnesium every day. (I finished my 14 days with the heart monitor yesterday morning and was very glad to see it go...)
With regard to Marshall, he talked to the doctor about a few little issues he's been having and they discussed remedies. It was pretty much an uneventful appointment, just getting the doctor caught up on everything. We asked him if he knew of anything Marshall could do to help bring his white blood cell count back up. Dr. Bliss said there's not a whole lot we can do as long as Marshall is still taking the chemo pill, but probiotics (which can be in the form of Greek yogurt or Kefir), CoQ10 and exercise can help.
We picked up some prescriptions at Walgreens and headed home.
The home health nurse came by this morning and checked Marshall's vitals. She said that now that he is using the Tele-Health machine, he doesn't really need a nurse coming by unless something is going on that warrants it.
Marshall and I both had a doctor appointment today with our primary care doctor. He saw us both at once, kind of cool.
With regard to me, I brought the doctor up to speed on my recent diagnosis of Afib. He checked me out and, at least at the time of the appointment, my heart rate was completely normal. I haven't had an episode for two full days now. I will report back to him after I see the cardiologist in June. I continue to take the magnesium every day. (I finished my 14 days with the heart monitor yesterday morning and was very glad to see it go...)
With regard to Marshall, he talked to the doctor about a few little issues he's been having and they discussed remedies. It was pretty much an uneventful appointment, just getting the doctor caught up on everything. We asked him if he knew of anything Marshall could do to help bring his white blood cell count back up. Dr. Bliss said there's not a whole lot we can do as long as Marshall is still taking the chemo pill, but probiotics (which can be in the form of Greek yogurt or Kefir), CoQ10 and exercise can help.
We picked up some prescriptions at Walgreens and headed home.
The home health nurse came by this morning and checked Marshall's vitals. She said that now that he is using the Tele-Health machine, he doesn't really need a nurse coming by unless something is going on that warrants it.
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
A good day at the Cancer Center
The PSA has gone up to 48.48 (last time it was 45.6) so it only went up a tiny bit. The nurse practitioner considered that to be good news.
The blood counts are a little off -- white blood cell count is getting a bit lower -- so they want us back in another two weeks to check it again. She said Marshall should try to eat very nutritionally, get exercise and wash his hands often, since low white blood cell counts lower the immunity. She also said that if it continues to get lower, he may have to get off of the chemo pill to let it go back up again.
He goes back on May 15. He also has to be back at the hospital on May 14 for a followup visit with the surgeon that did his spine surgery, so we will be spending the night again.
We got home around 1:00. I had a small Afib episode this morning but the rest of the day was free of any signs of an episode. So far.
The blood counts are a little off -- white blood cell count is getting a bit lower -- so they want us back in another two weeks to check it again. She said Marshall should try to eat very nutritionally, get exercise and wash his hands often, since low white blood cell counts lower the immunity. She also said that if it continues to get lower, he may have to get off of the chemo pill to let it go back up again.
He goes back on May 15. He also has to be back at the hospital on May 14 for a followup visit with the surgeon that did his spine surgery, so we will be spending the night again.
We got home around 1:00. I had a small Afib episode this morning but the rest of the day was free of any signs of an episode. So far.
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
We are in Denver
We left this morning around 11:30 only to find that the rear door of our Highlander for some reason wouldn't open automatically as usual, so it required brute force to do it manually. And we have to be able to open that door to get Marshall's power chair out. Gina and I messed with it for 15 minutes and then finally gave up. I would just have to spend two days fighting with the door.
The trip to Denver was uneventful and we got to our hotel at 4:30. For the past three years we have always stayed at the Springhill Suites which is directly across the street from the hospital -- it is oh-so-convenient. But this time they were sold out so we are staying at the Residence Inn/Airport which is only 3 miles from the hospital. I wish this had happened earlier in the game because the Residence Inn is so much better. We are paying less money and we have a room with a full kitchen. This would have been so nice when we were up here for Marshall's two weeks of radiation! I guess tomorrow morning we will find out how easy it is to get to the hospital from here.
Also, on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the Residence Inn has free dinner (today was hamburgers, veggie burgers and lots of side dishes), along with a free bar, from 6PM to 7:30PM. So we had a very nice and fun dinner.
Marshall will have lab work done at 7:30AM tomorrow and then we see the nurse practitioner at 8:30AM to get all the results and see where he stands. We should be back home by mid-afternoon.
My atrial fibrillation behaved beautifully all day while driving up here. But when we got to the hotel, I had an episode that lasted about 4 hours. It wasn't too bad, the heart rate stayed around 85 to 100bpm, but it is an awful sensation. All in all, though, I still feel that taking magnesium has been a great help in lessening the episodes and when I do have episodes they are not as bad as they were. (And only three more days wearing this heart monitor.)
The trip to Denver was uneventful and we got to our hotel at 4:30. For the past three years we have always stayed at the Springhill Suites which is directly across the street from the hospital -- it is oh-so-convenient. But this time they were sold out so we are staying at the Residence Inn/Airport which is only 3 miles from the hospital. I wish this had happened earlier in the game because the Residence Inn is so much better. We are paying less money and we have a room with a full kitchen. This would have been so nice when we were up here for Marshall's two weeks of radiation! I guess tomorrow morning we will find out how easy it is to get to the hospital from here.
Also, on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the Residence Inn has free dinner (today was hamburgers, veggie burgers and lots of side dishes), along with a free bar, from 6PM to 7:30PM. So we had a very nice and fun dinner.
Marshall will have lab work done at 7:30AM tomorrow and then we see the nurse practitioner at 8:30AM to get all the results and see where he stands. We should be back home by mid-afternoon.
My atrial fibrillation behaved beautifully all day while driving up here. But when we got to the hotel, I had an episode that lasted about 4 hours. It wasn't too bad, the heart rate stayed around 85 to 100bpm, but it is an awful sensation. All in all, though, I still feel that taking magnesium has been a great help in lessening the episodes and when I do have episodes they are not as bad as they were. (And only three more days wearing this heart monitor.)
Monday, April 27, 2015
Tomorrow is another Cancer Center Day
On Friday, I was gone again all day getting errands done. When I got home, Marshall was down in the dumps, mostly because he used to do a lot of these things and it depressed him staying home while I was out taking care of things. He was also getting tired of having a CNA here to watch him for the third day in a row. Gina keeps a close eye on him and he doesn't have a lot of privacy when she's here. It's okay if it's a day here and a day there, but three days in a row kind of got to him. I will remember that in the future. (And at least I got everything caught up for the time being.)
On Saturday, Gina and I went to the Laughing Yoga class. It was the silliest thing you've ever seen, a group of grown women sitting around loudly saying, "HA HA HO HO," and pretending to blow up balloons or pick flowers, etc. However, as the class went on, we could definitely see the breathing benefits of doing this (not to mention that there was a lot of genuine laughter at how silly we all looked!). We actually all felt a little lightheaded every now and then. I think Marshall might get something out of this class. He says he might come with me next Saturday and just observe.
Sunday it was snowing so we stayed in and watched old Johnny Carson DVDs.
Today the physical therapist came and worked with Marshall for a while. He is able to walk around the house without a walker or cane as long as he stays close to furniture to grab onto. He's a bit wobbly sometimes but the improvement is really noticeable.
My Afib episodes have lessened, but they still come for no particular reason that I can see. I do think they were reduced a lot when I started taking magnesium supplements, but who knows for sure? I am getting very very tired of wearing this heart monitor, but I think the results will prove to be very helpful since I was able to upload quite a few episodes to the medical staff. My last day to wear this thing is Thursday and then I return it.
Tomorrow we head up to Denver for an extremely early appointment at the Cancer Center on Wednesday. The oncologist wants to see what Marshall's PSA is doing now that he's been on the oral chemo pill for about two months. We'll spend the night in Denver and then drive home on Wednesday after the appointment. He always gets anxious every time we go up there, but outside of extreme fatigue, he's been feeling okay and has no pain, so we anticipate that everything will be okay.
On Saturday, Gina and I went to the Laughing Yoga class. It was the silliest thing you've ever seen, a group of grown women sitting around loudly saying, "HA HA HO HO," and pretending to blow up balloons or pick flowers, etc. However, as the class went on, we could definitely see the breathing benefits of doing this (not to mention that there was a lot of genuine laughter at how silly we all looked!). We actually all felt a little lightheaded every now and then. I think Marshall might get something out of this class. He says he might come with me next Saturday and just observe.
Sunday it was snowing so we stayed in and watched old Johnny Carson DVDs.
Today the physical therapist came and worked with Marshall for a while. He is able to walk around the house without a walker or cane as long as he stays close to furniture to grab onto. He's a bit wobbly sometimes but the improvement is really noticeable.
My Afib episodes have lessened, but they still come for no particular reason that I can see. I do think they were reduced a lot when I started taking magnesium supplements, but who knows for sure? I am getting very very tired of wearing this heart monitor, but I think the results will prove to be very helpful since I was able to upload quite a few episodes to the medical staff. My last day to wear this thing is Thursday and then I return it.
Tomorrow we head up to Denver for an extremely early appointment at the Cancer Center on Wednesday. The oncologist wants to see what Marshall's PSA is doing now that he's been on the oral chemo pill for about two months. We'll spend the night in Denver and then drive home on Wednesday after the appointment. He always gets anxious every time we go up there, but outside of extreme fatigue, he's been feeling okay and has no pain, so we anticipate that everything will be okay.
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Reflexology
I was out of the house this morning before Marshall even got up. When I spoke to Gina a bit later, she said that when he did get up he didn't feel so good. He had a slow start to his day. The physical therapist was here today, too.
I went to Walgreens to pick up some medications (both mine and Marshall's) and there was a glitch with one of Marshall's and also with my A-Fib medication. It seems like everything is a battle. So I started crying -- just couldn't help it -- and the poor girl at the Walgreens counter felt bad and told me she would get these prescriptions straightened out today for sure. (Sure enough, around 3:00 in the afternoon I got a call from her that everything was now okay and I could come back and pick up the two medications.)
I got my haircut and pedicure and I saw that they also offered a reflexology treatment, so I got that, too. It was absolutely awesome. At the beginning, it felt so insignificant that I thought it was just a gimmick, but after 5 minutes I fell asleep soundly right there on the table and when it was over I felt more relaxed than I've felt in a long time. I will be doing that again for sure. And Marshall says he is willing to try it!
When I got home, Marshall was feeling much better and we had a nice evening. Went to bed early.
I went to Walgreens to pick up some medications (both mine and Marshall's) and there was a glitch with one of Marshall's and also with my A-Fib medication. It seems like everything is a battle. So I started crying -- just couldn't help it -- and the poor girl at the Walgreens counter felt bad and told me she would get these prescriptions straightened out today for sure. (Sure enough, around 3:00 in the afternoon I got a call from her that everything was now okay and I could come back and pick up the two medications.)
I got my haircut and pedicure and I saw that they also offered a reflexology treatment, so I got that, too. It was absolutely awesome. At the beginning, it felt so insignificant that I thought it was just a gimmick, but after 5 minutes I fell asleep soundly right there on the table and when it was over I felt more relaxed than I've felt in a long time. I will be doing that again for sure. And Marshall says he is willing to try it!
When I got home, Marshall was feeling much better and we had a nice evening. Went to bed early.
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