Day +189, Tuesday

Currently, Andy is playing a Masters match for Pool League (you guessed it, Billiards not Swimming), and I’m sitting inconspicuously at a back table in a 3/4 empty pool hall. It’s league playoffs, and I figured I would support Andy’s team if things were slow, which they thankfully are.

Today was solid, starting with an early arrival for my 8:30 lab draw, and 8:40 hematology appointment. Yeah, we were all surprised, but I played it cool. Lab draws were with the phlebotomist who – I’ll just say it – doesn’t seem to like me. Today, she complained that not only were the orders messed up, but now – and this was a new one for me – now, my vein was too big for the butterfly needle.

Ok.

I insisted, said it was more comfortable and thank you. She huffed. And complied.

Honestly, I need to let this go. She’s never going to change – and there’s likely a sad story behind her poor attitude. This is an opportunity to pull on my DBT skills and practice compassion. I could say more, but I’ll practice Opposite Action, another wonderful DBT skill.

Thankfully my appointment with Dr W was much better. My Creatinine continues to fall, and today was at a very normal and boring 0.9. I didn’t complain. In fact, my entire metabolic panel, aside from Potassium, was normal. For this, Dr W commented that I could eat a banana every day, or he could add a Potassium supplement to my pill regimen.

Believe it or not, in spite of 40 years of hating bananas (and hate is a strong word), I actually opted for the banana. I suppose I’m just tired of pills and if there’s something I can do to help my body, even to go so far as to eat a detested banana, I’ll do it.

Blood counts are all a tad under normal, but higher than they were pre-transplant. Plus, whenever I get my lab results, I always always chuckle at the fact that I actually produce Monocytes, an important type of white blood cell that my pre-transplant bone marrow/immune system didn’t make. As in, they just weren’t there. The other blood count I noted was my Hemaglobin, a type of red blood cell that delivers oxygen to the muscles, which came in at a very low 9.1 (normal is 12-15). This essentially translates to me feeling a lot more fatigue than someone whose body is delivering the appropriate amount of Hemaglobin to their cells; in a race, with the same level of fitness, I would still need to work harder for the same result.

But this has been the story of my life with my body. I haven’t known anything different, so I just carry on, one foot in front of the other.

After Dr W, I had a follow-up appointment with my OBGYN. I really appreciate Paula and feel comfortable with her. Overall, my body is doing well, aside from a bit of skin dryness and, “pain on insertion” during intercourse. As a result, she recommended we try topical estrogen cream, applied daily. This should hopefully help my skin & discomfort, as my hormones have been nil after undergoing aggressive chemotherapy 6 months ago. On the bright side, all HPV have essentially disappeared – huzzah for small victories! And finally, we scheduled a Colposcopy, or biopsy of the cervix, next week.

After my appointments, I had just enough time to make it to the noon HEW (Hard Exercise Works) class. It was hard, I exercised, it worked. It was really nice seeing the folks who were there, and cheering them on during our excruciating relay named, “Omaha”. Yes, I was slow, yes, I could barely lift heavy weights – but I did it. One more day, one more opportunity to make myself stronger.

Afterwards was a blur. I drove home, dodging traffic in the rain, showered and made some kind of Steel Cut Oats/Strawberries/brown sugar and Greek Yogurt meal that sounded terrible but tasted ok. Settled in bed, I read and was joined by kitties until I dozed off. Dinner was mostly made via last weekend’s prep, and required a 25-minute stint in the oven, allowing Andy & i time to catch up. Later, I joined Andy at Fat Cats shortly before league play started at 7 pm.

And now I’m home, having just walked through the door. I wrote this post over several hours while watching different matches; editing should be fun. I’m tired, but overall feeling very positive about my day. Andy stopped at the store to pick up a few things, including bananas, and otherwise, that’s a wrap!

I hope that wherever you are, you’re having a terrific day! Thank you for reading, and as always – thank you for the continued support!

PS – Andy won his match, but no clue how the rest of his team did. Goodnight!

Update: I put my phone down after Andy returned home – his team won 20-18, we had a lovely late night together, and he bought 7 bananas.