Going Militant
My hair’s begun to fall out. Well, some falls out, but more to the point I found it’s simple to pinch a bunch and it just comes out. (Cuz of the Chemo.) Today Elana borrowed a great hair trimmer from a friend, and also brought in our beard trimmer.
With the help of the nurses finding big green plastic bags to collect the hair on the floor, Elana did a great job trimming my head down with the #2 setting on the trimmer. Apparently I look like an Army recruit, sans the uniform or gear. The hair on my head is greatly reduced, so t least the volume of what’s still coming out will be less dramatic. Same for trimming the beard.
Had a nice shower after that, in which some more hair opted to go swimming, but overall it wasn’t quite the dramatic experience I was expecting. It just looks like I went to the barber and said I wanted to have a summer buzz-cut to make it more comfortable.
Keep Healin’
Another positive visit with the doctor this morning. They (consultant doctor + team of like 3 or 4 other doctors) are happy with how things are going well. Since I’ve now gone a number of days without a fever, they’re going to start taking me off the antibiotics and see how that goes. She said the absence of a fever suggests my chest infection is going away, if not yet fully gone. Next week the’re going to be watching my numbers looking for them to go up.
I don’t know how long it’ll be until I actually get out, but she said once I was, I’d be out for a week or more (depending on the delay of getting me in on a bed—apparently they’ve got a waiting list going). Then I’d come in for a 7-day chemo treatment cycle, in contrast to the 10-day chemo I received at the start of this month.
No Gym at the Hospital
I’ve lost some weight recently, down to about 82kg (approx 179lb) from 85.5kg (189lb) when I started. I’m trying to make sure I eat more for each meal to see if I can counter that. e.g., I asked for a yogurt to have after dinner tonight (aka 4:30-5:00pm). One theory the nurse has for my changes is that I’ve been retaining water over the last week or so, and having expeled a decent amount, the weight difference appeared. I’ll probably meet with a dietitian next week about how to fix it up a bit.
They track everything; I keep a running list of what I’ve had to drink. Since I was last asked (every few hours), I’ve had a glass of water, one box (189ml) of milk, and a cup of tea. They use these numbers to try to match the volume of output—in the bathroom we each have the equivalent of a big plastic measuring cup which we’re to use for pee instead of the toilet. I’m curious how they resolve discrepancies—e.g., they found I was outputting more than I was taking in, but I’m not sure how easy it is to do that. (Aside from messing up my list-keeping. And most of you know how I thrive on that. 🙂 )
Yesterday a physiotherapist came by to check my chest (fine) and also answer some questions I had about what sort of exercises I can do. They’ve given me a sheet with a Physiotherapy Exercise Programme (Irish spelling), with six specific things to do—ideally all of them each day, but only if I feel up to it. Things like raising and lowering legs, standing up on the tip of one foot, etc. A lot of it is similar to the physio I got as part of recovering from the twisted ankle/strained ligament I got over the summer in Maine when I stepped into an invisible hole in the ground in the woods. Anyway, this morning I did a few of the exercises, which felt really good. Movement seems so much better that staying stationary all the time.
Staying Amused
Tonight Ireland’s football team is playing at 7:45pm against Macedonia. I’m hoping I’ll have the energy to stay up and watch it. 🙂
In the interim, E brought in a Sudoku book we have. I’m going to try doing some of those on paper, and see if there’s a difference in how my eyes feel compared to spending long periods of time reading email or writing. (I’ve got a Sudoku game on my Aldroid mobile phone, but my eyes get tired after playing for about 15-20 minutes.) I have a hunch regular paper will prove much more accommodating. (Now if only I felt as comfortable writing on paper as I do typing…)
