Monday, September 10, 2007
Barfium, and also a Baxter Update
I am once again going for scans tomorrow. This is icky for a variety of reasons: first, barium is nasty and careens through the digestive system like a foamy, liquid freight train. I call it "barfium." Secondly: they scheduled my CT scan for 3pm, ensuring that I will be as hungry and cranky as possible. Thirdly: I had my last scan not so long ago and am dismayed that my liver counts and tumor marker counts appear to warrant scans again so soon.
I tried to ask for the kind of barium preparation that is a powder and can be mixed with clear liquid (like water or fruit juice), but Lita was extremely skeptical about whether our equipment is able to detect that particular kind of barium. Who knew that the stuff they make you chug or that they squirt into you might be hardware-specific? I never followed up on this so will be drinking two large cups of berry-flavored foam that weigh five pounds each tomorrow around 2:00.
I hate that my scan was scheduled for the afternoon. I will be able to eat breakfast, but not lunch. I get very cranky (and fatigued and become filled with low blood sugar-induced despair) when I can't eat lunch. If the scan were in the morning, I wouldn't mind because I'm used to fasting over night. As it is, I will get more and more irritated and crabby as the day wears on, and I have already apologized to my mom (who will be accompanying me to the appointment) for the fact that I will probably be very unpleasant company. The bone scan injection is at 4, then I have to come back at 8. To make things even more "convenient," the person who did the scheduling attempted to switch my infusion to noon.
That's right--I get chemo the same day. My appointment was at 9, so I planned to enjoy a muffin and relax at the Canton center, where it's very pleasant, low-key, and Brian and I can watch dvds without being cramped in to a huge assembly line of sick people. Switching the appointment to noon does not make it better. I'd have trouble getting from Canton to the hospital in time, and would completely miss out on the most excellent baked goods. I guess they were thinking that grouping things together would disrupt my day less, but I really don't need my day to be a solid mass of medical procedure, thank you. I'm happy to stagger things. Even the 3-4 hour gap between the injection and the bone scan is ok--it will give me time to go have dinner with my mom (or at least allow her to frantically acquire some chicken nuggets from a drive-thru to stuff into my mouth before she has to strangle me).
Results should be available Thursday morning. I certainly don't want bad news, although more of the same results will be disquieting, too. I don't want to just barely hang on, I want to see improvement. I'd love to have things knocked back to a degree where I could go on another chemo vacation.
Baxter is also going for medical treatment tomorrow. He is having a very special operation. I've tried to tell him that this is the consequence for "marking" the furniture in the living room, but we were going to have him fixed anyway. I have decided he is no longer allowed on the sofa and chair, except by invitation. It can be very disconcerting to have a 15 pound puppy suddenly flying at you from the ottoman, and since he seems to have the idea that the sofa and chair are HIS territory, he needs to be disabused of this notion. So far it's going reasonably well. He keeps trying, but we keep pre-empting his leaps to the sofa and squirting him with water when necessary. Oddly, he's been more pleasant in general since he's not allowed free access to the furniture.
The lesson here is that pets need boundaries. They also need to have their grown-up parts removed for the greater good.
Does anybody know of a really effective pet-odor neutralizer? I've been using one that says it has "enzyme action," but I'm dissatisfied.
I tried to ask for the kind of barium preparation that is a powder and can be mixed with clear liquid (like water or fruit juice), but Lita was extremely skeptical about whether our equipment is able to detect that particular kind of barium. Who knew that the stuff they make you chug or that they squirt into you might be hardware-specific? I never followed up on this so will be drinking two large cups of berry-flavored foam that weigh five pounds each tomorrow around 2:00.
I hate that my scan was scheduled for the afternoon. I will be able to eat breakfast, but not lunch. I get very cranky (and fatigued and become filled with low blood sugar-induced despair) when I can't eat lunch. If the scan were in the morning, I wouldn't mind because I'm used to fasting over night. As it is, I will get more and more irritated and crabby as the day wears on, and I have already apologized to my mom (who will be accompanying me to the appointment) for the fact that I will probably be very unpleasant company. The bone scan injection is at 4, then I have to come back at 8. To make things even more "convenient," the person who did the scheduling attempted to switch my infusion to noon.
That's right--I get chemo the same day. My appointment was at 9, so I planned to enjoy a muffin and relax at the Canton center, where it's very pleasant, low-key, and Brian and I can watch dvds without being cramped in to a huge assembly line of sick people. Switching the appointment to noon does not make it better. I'd have trouble getting from Canton to the hospital in time, and would completely miss out on the most excellent baked goods. I guess they were thinking that grouping things together would disrupt my day less, but I really don't need my day to be a solid mass of medical procedure, thank you. I'm happy to stagger things. Even the 3-4 hour gap between the injection and the bone scan is ok--it will give me time to go have dinner with my mom (or at least allow her to frantically acquire some chicken nuggets from a drive-thru to stuff into my mouth before she has to strangle me).
Results should be available Thursday morning. I certainly don't want bad news, although more of the same results will be disquieting, too. I don't want to just barely hang on, I want to see improvement. I'd love to have things knocked back to a degree where I could go on another chemo vacation.
Baxter is also going for medical treatment tomorrow. He is having a very special operation. I've tried to tell him that this is the consequence for "marking" the furniture in the living room, but we were going to have him fixed anyway. I have decided he is no longer allowed on the sofa and chair, except by invitation. It can be very disconcerting to have a 15 pound puppy suddenly flying at you from the ottoman, and since he seems to have the idea that the sofa and chair are HIS territory, he needs to be disabused of this notion. So far it's going reasonably well. He keeps trying, but we keep pre-empting his leaps to the sofa and squirting him with water when necessary. Oddly, he's been more pleasant in general since he's not allowed free access to the furniture.
The lesson here is that pets need boundaries. They also need to have their grown-up parts removed for the greater good.
Does anybody know of a really effective pet-odor neutralizer? I've been using one that says it has "enzyme action," but I'm dissatisfied.
Labels: barium, Baxter, bone scan, Brian, CT scan, Lita, mom, tumor marker
