Monday, August 23, 2010

Monday, August 23, 2010

Our accommodations at a guest house in Harwichport on Cape Cod are wonderful, almost a throw-back to the 1920’s. My morning shower is still a bit of a challenge, but it works. We hang out with Sean, Jack, Jen, Matt, Eileen, and Pat at Ocean’s Edge Resort in Brewster and wait out the weather, which is extremely blustery. My gout continues to be a problem; each day’s improvement seems to be very small, although I am able to wear sneakers by this time. I must grin and bear it, and wait out this painful illness.




Saturday, August 21, 2010

Our treatment centers at New York Oncology and Hematology (NYOH) and at Albany Medical Center all believe in helping the caregivers and well as the patients, and seek to keep morale high. To that end, they scheduled my treatment around our one-week vacation on Cape Cod.

And so, a dressing inspection and change was arranged for yesterday (Friday, 8/20) afternoon, at Albany Med, in preparation for our departure from home early this morning. I was admonished to keep this dressing dry at all times, as it protects the port or catheter that taps into veins in my upper chest. It is very difficult to shower and do this, and so hygiene necessarily suffers somewhat. Our wonderful nurse, Donna O., has some pointers that are a great help. I use sheets of “Glad Press and Seal,” which I cut and press to the affected area of my chest. Then I secure and seal the edges with one-inch-wide medical tape. Even then, a full shower is not possible. Shampoo and upper body cleansing I do after the shower, in the sink. It is enormously time-consuming, but one must balance the inconvenience with all the effort and expense being made to heal and prolong life. It seems to me a mighty small expense to pay.

Traffic over the Bourne and Sagamore Bridges and onto the Cape can be horrendous, and so we depart from home very early, at 5:30 AM, in order to beat this tie-up. Our effort is a success, and we meet our good friends Marcia and Paul for our traditional breakfast at 10:30 AM at Grumpy’s Restaurant along Rte. 6A in north Dennis. It’s a terrific feed! Our vacation has begun!

All these positive vibes are tempered by my painful leg. The gout in my ankle and foot is slightly improved, but still extremely painful, and I am relegated to wearing bedroom slippers wherever I go. Sometimes I’m even forced to use a cane. The Indocine and Oxycodone prescribed by my primary care physician for this wonderful affliction, which normally cure gout within 24 hours, are very slow to work this time. Why? At this stage in my myeloma treatment, my body’s natural defenses are at what may well be a lifetime peak. Is there something else about myeloma that retards healing in spite of this? I can only hope for a speedy recovery so that I can enjoy my vacation.