Unscheduled Oncology Visit
I’ve decided to stop apologizing for my cancer updates here. I had an unscheduled oncology visit yesterday and want to tell you about it. Not because I need to share details with the world, fulfilling some kind of morbid hole in me, but because I’ve been blogging for Jones Natural Chews for four years, and y’all are friends. Dog people are kind and compassionate. I appreciate that. I also don’t want y’all to worry, so I update.
These are some of my absolute favorite dog people. They’ll tell you all about the kindness and compassion of others like them It’s a great community to belong to. And I like to sneak treats to their dogs.
I try to give cancer updates every two weeks or so, but this is an off week (not a chemo or pump week). After my last treatment, I experienced not only more exhaustion than usual, but a cough and shortness of breath every time I moved. The nurse recommended exercise. It seemed counterintuitive, but it worked (I have a little stair stepper that I walk on for a minute or two at a time). The cough, however, did not go away, which is how I wound up with an unscheduled oncology visit. Hunny was convinced I had pneumonia. My friends who’ve survived cancer suggested I might be anemic.
Y’all know, right, that I give these updates not just to keep you all in the game (so you don’t worry, or you know how to pray if it’s something worrisome), but for new cancer patients who may find these posts, as signposts along the way. Reassurance and a touch of guidance. Each person’s experience is different, but I give you what I’ve got, just in case it’s a help. Just like I inform you of the benefits of Jones Natural Chews, in order to be helpful (come on – I can’t get away without plugging the best treats in dogdom).
Get On With the Oncology Visit, Already!
Yeah, yeah. I’ll get there. So I called and talked with a nurse. Told her it was Hunny that was worried, not me. She didn’t quite buy that, but she made an appointment for me. Once there, I had blood drawn and a chest X-ray. At the actual oncology visit, the doctor listened to my heart and lungs. First he looked hard at my face and told me I looked good for this stage. Then he asked questions. I tried to answer them as thoroughly as possible. No, no yellow or green when I blow my nose (only blood clots, which is fairly normal, since chemo dries me out). Nothing productive when I cough – it’s more of a dry cough. The exhaustion, sadly, is normal and cumulative. The X-rays show my lungs are clean and clear. My labs show that my blood levels, while really low in certain spots, are pretty spot on for this far into the game. In other words, I’m okay. Just keep on keepin’ on.
Sadly, nothing can be done about my hair loss. This oncology visit didn’t address that. Even though my chemo shouldn’t be causing it, it’s happening. Wanna see? Check out this before and after.
First, the hair in the first photo doesn’t even fit the frame. Second, now I look at LEAST ten years older than I am. I shouldn’t be heartbroken about this. It’s only hair. It’ll grow back. But it’s killing me! I hate it.
So! All that said, I’m in a good place right now. I may not feel like it, but I am. And now I’m going to hawk my wares and tell you about the dog treat giveaway! Because dog treat giveaways cure cancer. True story. 😉
Giveaway
This go ’round, Jones Natural Chews is giving away treats nearly all dogs can have (barring a beef allergy) – Sausage Sticks! They’re great training treats, since they snap into smaller pieces and fit perfectly into a pocket. They’re a dry treat. Dogs go bananas for them. And if you click on this sentence, then scroll down in the new page, you can enter the giveaway! Yay! Huzzah! Do it. Do it now. It’ll make your dog smile. And it’ll cure my cancer. You want that, right?!?
Spreading the good chews …
Flea
