Monday 12/30

Had a long talk to my oncologist before being cleared for this other treatment at the VA. Going over all medications, symptoms and any other info, now he thinks that my abdominal pain my be cancer related and why he wants me to have some chemo treatments now before other complications. I'm not convinced because some of the pain has eased up when we use laxatives, IBS pills and suppositories.

An Attending Oncologist came in with his 2 cents and thinks I should consider starting up Hospice he says the VA, unlike other hospitals, will still allow you to have treatments. I did not like hearing that I think he said it because mom mentioned I've had a hard time bathing and laying in bed more than half the day. Which my oncologist days the trial would not accept me if I told them that. 

One thing he wants to do is get my pain under control. So he changed that regiment. It's going to be one that lasts 8 hours; unfortunately, the pharmacy didn't have any. And he changed my Oxycodone to Hydromorphone for breakout pain. I seriously doubt that any pain relief would last 8 hours got me. I guess the next thing is track down Walter White and Jessie Pinkman.

As son as I got home I limped on into bed where I will relaxe a while. 

Monday 12/23

I was discharged Saturday around noon. I haven't been able to write because I've been in a lot of pain. Still am. Mostly in my abdomen. No one ever said why my abdomen hurts the was it does. 

Also my legs have been really unsteady. 

My left leg pain Sero have

Friday 12/20

Yesterday I was mentally exhausted.

Last night was terrible. I like a dark room to sleep. I've got light coming in the window from street lights. The bed keeps flashing orange and blue under the bed. The monitors keep dinging. How's a person supposed to get some shut eye?!

I had an Echo Cardiogram early this morning. Must have been good because the RN took me off Heparin and started me on pills. I know they want to see how I do with pills before letting me go home. 

My Oncologist stopped by the ER and called me this morning. He spoke with Bethesda clinical trial team and they want me on anticoag for 1 month. That means my trial will be slightly delayed. In the meantime I will go back on chemo so I don't end up with more complications for being off it for so long. 

And the hits just keep coming. 12/19

My primary called me back up and wanted me to have an ultrasound. We went in this morning and had my left leg and right arm checked. Turns out I have a deep vein thrombosis in the leg and superficial clot in the arm. So I get sent to the ER and they do a CT of my lungs and abdomen. I'm told I have a significant amount of clots in my lungs. They immediately put me on Heparin and admit me to the hospital.

Monday 12/16

Went to my Primary doctor today and tell her about all my ailments. And there's a new one! My right forearm started aching yesterday and today it started get swollen and red just like my left lower leg did. 

Told her about everything that has happened since 3 days before Thanksgiving till present. She thinks my arm might be a reaction to something. Things that coincide with that would be the muscle rubs like Biofreeze and the Pregabalin that had a lot of nasty side effects. So we used soap and water to remove the rubs and I have to titrate myself off of the Pregabalin. She also ordered up a steroid pack to see what that will do. 

The left lower leg was already starting to look better and the pitting edema seems to have stopped. The biggest problem right now is plantar fascitis in its pain factor. So she also wrote a consult to Podiatry. 

Saturday 12/14

Home Sweet Home. Mom went out this morning to pick up Lucy. I was laid up with plantar fascitis. Seems like something new everyday. And today it's severe pain in my left heel. Lucy was crying when she hoped up in my bed. I'm sure she feels better now. 

Another issue is my lower intestines have been tender for many days. I hope it's just gas. Started taking GasX. Plan to see my primary on Monday. 

Tomorrow, RV Pro is going to install an auxiliary propane hose to the main tank. That way I'll be able to use 20lb tanks anywhere we can't get a refill service. 

Friday 12/13

Originally I bought Premium Economy for the extra leg room, arm room and pre-seating; otherwise people in the back will put their luggage in the front. The 'extra' leg room was negated when the woman in front of me put her chair all the way back. So I decided to upgrade us to the business class where you can lie flat. I don't think this plane has a first class because we are in row 3. At least I hope to be.  When I tried to check in, it said I haven't paid for my upgrades, which is false. I can see on the app that everything is on paid status. I called up their customer service before bed and even they see that I've paid. She said she would put an expedited bug report in but said if it's not corrected to just go to the counter top check in. I said I hope they don't overbook my seats, which she said they wouldn't. We'll see. 

Last day in Germany. Noticed one of the Viking longboats was pulled up outside of

window. 

We got to the airport in plenty of time. I got our tickets at the counter. Germany has a strange airline called Condor with different colored stores around their planes. I've seen blue, tan and red so far.  Must be a budget airline. 

Boy did we just get cheated. We arrived early as usual 1200 for 445 flight. They were doing some special document check at the gate. At the time there was another flight leaving at the gate. After the woman stamped our tickets she noticed we were early. She took our tickets and said she would bring back new ones. To make a long story short we found out we could use the business class lounge after we had been sitting at the gate for 3 hours. We only got 45 min on the lounge adverb we could have had 3h45m.

I'm wondering if Lufthansa has a 1st class, because their business class sure looks like 1st class. As soon as we were up in the clouds  I relaxed my seat on back and went for a little snooze. I wasn't keeping track of my meds too well because at 2140 both heels starting hurting. My abdomen was also tender. 30 min after taking another oxy and everything started to calm down. Being able to prop my feet up made a huge difference. 

Thursday 12/12

This morning I noticed that the majority of pain was in my left heel, which is funny since my foot has been numb the whole time. Then in the calf area hurry a little, but nothing like the made of down to breakfast with moms help then came back up to rest my leg again. The pitting edema looked a little better, but then I've had my leg on a stack of 6 pillows. 

Went down to eat dinner on the hotel. While waiting I stepped outside for a picture of their Christmas tree. 

Wednesday 12/11

I listened to my personal RN and put one of my compression socks over the left lower leg and used some spare pillows to elevate my leg. When I woke up I had a lot of pain in my knee area. When mom looked at my left lower leg she said there was a lot of pitting edema. I feel like I have another visit to the ER coming when we get back. 

I told mom she needs to get out and explore. I don't want to ruin her vacation but I need to stay in bed with my leg elevate.  I did go down for breakfast, but only because it was a buffet and I knew I wouldn't have to wait for food while I am in pain. 

Mom went down to the market, took some pictures and brought back some apple strudel. 

Tuesday 12/10

Had a rough night. Mom massaged my calf about 0600. When she woke me at 0830 for breakfast I was in a blissful sleep which is rare. At the moment it's only the left calf. So I limped down to breakfast after taking pain pill ate a little and came back up to the room and laid down while the pill took effect. 

At lunchtime, we walked to a downtown region that had stopped and restaurants. The Christmas Market was there as well. We found a restaurant and both had the bratwurst with fries. 

Got back to the hotel and mom noticed pitting edema on my left leg calf. So now I might have a cellulitis thing going on... great. So now I have to elevate my leg as it is red with swelling and a little hot to the touch. 

Mom woke me about 6pm and we walked back to the Christmas Market to see all the lights. It is 43 degrees and wind is 7mph.

We came back to the hotel afterwards. I didn't want to sit on a restaurant waiting for service while my leg is in pain. I told mom to go eat downstairs, but I wanted to lay on bed with my leg up. She brought me back a pasta dish. 

Monday 12/9

Got up early for breakfast and then left for the train station at 1000. I can’t believe I got better internet on the train and was able to upload my blog then in the hotel.

On the train I went to their ‘restaurant’ and got a Coke Zero. It came ice cold in a big glass bottle so I got the idea to first use as a cold massager for my leg calf. We ate some food on the train from the breakfast bar. Right now I'm waiting for the oxy to do its job and we'll go down for dinner

Once in Mainz we caught a cab to the Hilton. Our room is...WOW! It's huge! Check out the telephone by the toilet. The shower is handicap accessible. There's more storage than you can shake a stick at. Big work desk, chair with ottoman and off course, big windows worth a view of the Rhine River where you can see some of the long boats tied up. We plan on doing the Rhine cruise in April. 

For dinner, mom had the tomato soup and we both had Cesar salad with prawns.

Also, In the lobby they have a self- service store.