It's Been A Long Road

Blogging has been a little tough for me since I began my latest antibiotic regimen. Not only was I given an antibiotic for the possible infection near the rear suture, but I also received an antibiotic for a UTI (urinary tract infection) that resulted from the catheter which was required for surgery/recovery. So, I've been on Cipro and Flagyl - oh the joy. Being as sensitive to drugs as I am, these antibiotics have knocked me for a loop. I sleep about 12 hours a day and lately with a nap in between - and that's even with the enormous amount of water I've been drinking. Well, I just finished the Cipro yesterday and I have two or three more days of Flagyl left. It will be nice to feel human again.

And I was hoping I could feel human for a just a little bit longer since chemotherapy will likely begin in the next couple weeks or so. It's really hard to think about the upcoming chemotherapy. And I'm really hoping that I'm making it out to be more than it was because I am SO not looking forward to it. I I'm hoping the chemotherapy will be easier than I recall.

And another aspect to that is work. During my last chemotherapy treatment I was completely incapable of working. My hope is that this "final" treatment (I use quotes since nothing is certain) is on the shorter side of the possible three-to-six month treatment. A lot of that has to do with the fact that I have been able to go for walks in the local parks or through the neighborhood. Now that I am out and about lately, I see people working either on their yards or at their own business and I realize how long it's been since I have been able to do so. "You need to heal so that you don't have to do this again...rest is important"...etc, etc. Easy to say and real hard to do after being on bedrest until mid-July. The only thing that keeps me sane is waking up from a two-hour nap after only being awake for four hours - it reminds me that healing is a slow and powerful process. And once again, like I did so many months ago, I choose to let go of how I think it should be or how I think treatment/healing should look.

But don't think for a second that doing is as easy as choosing. I have to keep bringing myself back to my commitment to letting go. I mean, c'mon, it's been a long road and I want to start earning my money. Hell, I'd shovel manure in a horse barn if I could. This definitely drives me nuts. Granted, I did just have major surgery, but as I said, it has been a LONG time.

Anitbiotics x 2

Currently I am taking Ciprofloxacin HCL aka Cipro as well as Metronidazole aka Flagyl. Both of these antibiotics make me feel either nauseas or dizzy or give me a headache or leave me feeling dehydrated. Naturally I am drinking a great deal of water throughout the day as well as only taking them after a meal in order to avoid these side effects as much as possible.

If you have taken either of these drugs and experienced similar side effects and found a way to reduce or counter them, please share that information with me. Just post a note here on the blog. Thanks.

Gerson Flashback???

It seems I took the weekend off from blog posting. By Sunday night my hope was to post something on Monday afternoon (yesterday), but at 4 AM on Monday morning I woke up to intense abdominal spasms. By 4:30 AM I took a Vicoden and sort of fell back asleep. I eventually woke up around 8 AM and spent all morning and early into the afternoon reeling from the pain. If I was on my back, the next spasm would have me on my knees and leaning over the back of the couch or on my knees and bending down with my head on the cushions - the way a newborn baby sometimes sleeps. Eventually, I would wake up in one of the said positions from another spasm and either turn over and lay on my back or my side in hopes that I would fall asleep before the next spasm came. I felt like a slow moving rotisserie chicken, minus the heat of course.

And the toughest part about it was that my brother, who I haven't seen in over a year, was in town for only 24-hrs. He arrived Sunday at 2 PM and we had lunch with our folks and then he left around 4 PM on Monday to have dinner with them and then see my Mom's performance at the Merry-Go-Round Theater in Auburn. Not how I hoped our visit would go. Our relationship has grown so much since our adolescent years where being right about...whatever...was more important to me than the little bit of compassion it takes to have a great relationship with one heck of a great guy. The best part was when I attempted to eat some cereal to help my stomach tolerate a dose of Cipro (antibiotic) - prescribed for what seems to be a UTI resulting from the catheter I was blessed with for most of my hospital stay. I got about a half a bowl of cereal in my belly before my stomach decided it would be happier empty. Yeah. I have to say that vomiting just short of two weeks post-abdominal surgery with staples in my abdomen isn't exactly a recipe for a good time. I rarely consider the feeling of someone taking their hand and gripping onto my abdominal staples and pulling as a fun. Then again, I've been considered a bit odd now and again - maybe it's just me.

Anyway, by mid-afternoon, Daniela decided to call my surgeon's office for their input. She had talked to me about it earlier, but since I had no fever, chills, etc., etc., I asked her to just give me some time. Well, once I threw-up we both agreed it was a symptom worthy of a phone call. After a short conversation with the Nurse Practitioner in Dr. Cagir's office, we agreed it was a little less than a "blockage" moving it's way through my intestines (not uncommon post-intestinal surgery) or possibly intestinal spasming. During our second conversation with the NP, she and I agreed I was dealing with intestinal spasming. It seems my diet was a little too rich when the family was here.

PAUSE - This is like a Gerson Therapy flashback: intense abdominal pain for long hours. Man. I had hoped those days were over. Even Daniela felt like we'd gone back in time to the days of the Gerson detox flareups.

By 6 PM, I was on strictly clear liquids and the spasming had seriously diminished, but it was still there a little. So, at 6:30 PM, I took some Milk-of-Magnesia and got everything moved out a little more quickly. The spasming naturally increased as I had anticipated, but I took another Vicoden and after about half-an-hour and a few very difficult spasms, I found myself peacefully relaxing on the couch watching the Red Sox (loosing unfortunately). The point was to move through whatever was triggering my intestines and get it out of there ASAP.

By the way, you may be wondering how sports ever found its way into this blog. Well after 13-years of living without cable or antennae, we decided to take advantage of the local cable company's internet/telephone/cable deal - same price as what we were paying for internet and phone - you know how it goes. With all my "rest" and pain management, hockey playoffs into basketball playoffs into Summertime baseball has been the progression. As long as I stay away from television drama, I can control my addiction to the "boob-tube," which explains to you why I chose to be without it for the last 13-years. Some people find they can't stop drinking alcohol once they start. I have the same difficulty with drama TV. Some may say I'm "still using" even if I watch TV, but there's nothing like a good ball game to keep me clean.

When I woke up today, I was a bit hesitant to move too quickly - concerned about another bout of abdominal spasms. Fortunately, I was free of such problems. On Monday night, the Milk-of-Mag moved the last of whatever was causing the spasming right out of my system. And I ate very conservatively today. I'm going to ease food back into my body.

Oh. And most importantly, Dr. Cagir requested I have a CT Scan on Thursday, along with my previously scheduled appointment to have these staples removed, just to be sure all is well. I'm told I will feel much better once these metal hooks are out of my belly. I'll let you know.