Sunday, January 27, 2008
A month since my last post! Well, on the whole it has been a month I would rather not have had. Three hospitalizations, one thing leading to another.
But there is fabulous news. I have responded very well to the monoclonal antibody treatment for Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia, and we have terminated the chemotherapy after six of the eight treatments that were planned. No more dealing with prednisone! I'll go back to check status in about eight weeks, and meanwhile monitor my blood values - I'm still more anemic than is desired.
However, the new problem is that I ran a high fever - enough to cause the first hospitalization - and that threw me into atrial fibrillation, where my heart is beating irregularly, and too fast. Medical treatment (beta blockers and calcium channel blockers) haven't helped, nor has several attempts to reset my heart electrically, with Electroversions. So this problem continues.
Most of the past month I have been extremely fatigued and lethargic, and feeling somewhat depressed. I was afraid that was going to be the normal state of things. But then my cardiologist changed from the strong beta blocker (Sotolol) to a calcium channel blocker (Diltiazem), and suddenly the sun is shining, I have energy, and feel almost euphoric. I notice one of the possible side effects of the Diltiazem is personality changes. Hmmmmm. This may be some goood stuff, and legal, too! By the way, I love these drug names - so bionic. I wonder how many focus groups they hold before their Naming Celebration Parties.
