Day +14, Tuesday

It was always going to be a late night, as my Team ordered a a pint of blood and second round of platelets. The morning platelet failed to bump my count up to an acceptable level, so I find myself watching Brian on MSNBC, texting with my folks and Aunt Lucy and getting a second infusion. My Team wants to keep my platelet level above 20, as I’ve had a few fevers; apparently fevers eat platelets the same way I consume frozen suckers. One word – carnage.

Day +14 started out rough, when I realized that I couldn’t swallow. It was a feeling of slight panic combined with terrible Mucositis, the sensation of a vice grip on my throat and a weirdly dry mouth. The pain was unbearable. In some ways it was good, as I wasn’t focused on my bladder or my tush, so that counts for something, right?

When my PA Erin came in shortly after 7 am, I mentioned that I would need to switch to IV calories – it simply hurt too much to swallow. Thankfully she jumped into action and I had a consult with Pain & Palliative Care before my Team met via their online platform at 8 am, and moving forward, we’ve got a few more options to keep the pain down. 12 hours later, it is still working and I managed to consume about 1200 kcal throughout the day (all liquids).

Medication doses are a different beast, though. There may have been a tear or two when I saw this:

The remainder of my day was very low key. There was a lot of waiting to see if I was going to get/need blood or platelets, and then waiting for said blood products to arrive. I started listening to an episode of This American Life, but dozed – what is it about Ira’s voice that just make me fall asleep? I also started a paper version of The NY Times crossword puzzle, meaning I don’t complete it on my NYT app; I love my iPhone, but there’s something so wonderful about taking ink to crossword, just like Aunt Lucy taught me. Yes, its a bold move, so I write small (Aunt Lucy taught me that as well).