A familiar seat

Sat down in a familiar chair today ... one that I hoped I'd never sit in again ... in the infusion room at the chemo clinic. But I was happy to have the medical oncologist suggest that since I still have my medi-port, it might be helpful to administer an IV steroid drip through the port and kick these hives outta here in a more expedient fashion!

Today is day 4 with hives, and they are still everywhere and growing in size. I had an appointment with my medical oncologist to get her thoughts on what is going on. She was shocked that new hives are still showing up and existing ones are expanding since I've been on prednisone since Saturday ... so it was time to do something a little more drastic. I was done with the steroid drip in less than a half hour, and on my way.

She feels this is a systemic, allergic reaction to the pain killer (Vicodin) that I took for the discomfort of my radiation burns, and added that she never wants me to put another one of those tablets in my mouth, as each subsequent break out could be more intense. Safe there, no thoughts of taking any more of those pills.

I'm supposed to go see them, just stop in and no need to call, if new spots continue to show up. The new antihistamine that the medical oncologist prescribed yesterday has really stopped the intense itching, so that is a plus. The downside is I probably won't sleep well tonight due to the steroid drip, but I'll give up some sleep to get rid of the hives.

The saga continues!

Today I'd also like to ask for you to keep the family of Carol Gibson in your prayers. The Gibson's are a very special family to us, and Carol will be missed deeply in the Tremont community. We met Carol in 1982 when Mitch moved to Tremont for the first time. Last summer, Carol and I sat side by side in the chemo chairs a couple of times, and we shared our personal thoughts on cancer and family and living life. She was a woman who loved her family deeply, lived her life with dignity, and battled her cancer with grace.