Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Dear Diary,

I've made it half-way through the holidays.

It seems a shame to view Christmas and New Year's in that manner. These are supposed to be happy, memorable times, filled with family, friends, goodies, and optimism.

And they are.

But to those whose health is compromised, they also represent a challenge. Worry about how all the exertion and turmoil will make you feel, and how long you'll be able to endure it. Concern about whether you'll have the energy to treat each friend and family member with the respect and cheer they are due.

Such notions are always in the back of one's mind at times like this.

At any rate, the news is good. Monday's consultation with my chemo oncologist was very successful. The involved series of x-rays snapped last week showed no new problems. The blood test results continue to be excellent. There's nothing to indicate that the back pain I'm experiencing is related to my cancer. What's more, the discomfort has improved somewhat, which is good news.

But a new problem has erupted. I am experiencing a gout-like, arthritis-like pain in my right foot. It's fairly acute, though not quite serious enough yet to resort to my trusty cane. What triggered this? While I have lived well this holiday, I don't think I've been so profligate as to warrant an attack of gout.

And so this is discussed with my chemo oncologist, too. Gout is a side-effect of the treatment for myeloma, so it's not a total surprise. During the spring, as a precaution, I was automatically prescribed Allopurinol, a gout-fighting medication. However, it failed to head off my horrendous gout-like attack in September, and my stem cell transplant doctors cancelled the prescription at that time.

The chemo oncologist now questions why it was cancelled, and re-prescribes it. In addition, he writes me a script for Indocin to knock back the current attack. I'll use hydrocodone to control the intense pain. The drawback is that I'll be over-drugged for a while.

On Monday I also was given an IV of Aredia, the bone-building compound. This medication alone can lead to serious discomfort after a few hours. Over the next couple of days the painful condition in my foot intensifies, for whatever set of reasons, then it gradually begins to dissipate. Today it's been reduced to a mere nagging discomfort. In perhaps a few days it will totally disappear.

For those who like to read, as I do, it is easy to put such problems in perspective. Over the summer, I was sent a book by my long-time friend Mary, a librarian. The book, "The Great Silence", about life in Britain in the months after the conclusion of World War I, is a case in point. Long sections of this non-fiction tome are devoted to the experiencies of the wounded, expecially those who suffered from horrendous, disfiguring facial wounds. Before the Great War of 1914-1918, whose centennial approaches, these soldiers would have quickly died. But with the progress made in battlefield medicine, the First World War saw many of them survive to be shut away, viewed with revulsion, and experimented on with newly-developed techniques in plastic surgery. Fortunately, some great strides were made in this art, but never quite enough. Learning about that episode made my experiences pale in comparison and rendered my affliction and treatment much more endurable.

I've also read two articles about the fine author Laura Hillenbrand, who wrote the 2001 best seller "Seabiscuit" (many of you have no doubt seen the great film), and the current best seller "Unbroken ". My good friends Barb, Frank, and Sara made a gift to me of a subscription to "Sports Illustrated" (more than mere tales about sports, this magazine is a chronicle of difficulties defied) a while back, and a brief December 10 article in that magazine reminded me of her monumental accomplishments in the face of huge health challenges. Her mysterious illness was described in an even more graphic article in a July 2003 issue of "The New Yorker". (Read the "New Yorker" article (warning: it's very long!) at: www.cfids-cab.org/MESA/Hillenbrand.html, the Sports Illustrated article (short) at http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1179925/index.htm and the "SI" interview pertaining to the afore-mentioned SI article (of medium length) at : http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/tim_layden/12/15/hillenbrand.q.a/index.html)

Knowing what many people have endured before me challenges me to rise above my own difficulties and take the steps to accomplish great things and improve the state of my health. I hereby resolve to do that.

And let's face it. It's the right time of year for resolutions, isn't it?