Not-so-fond memories

Yesterday evening I had an unpleasant reminder that the side-effects of my treatment aren't quite dead yet. With the sudden change in temperature, I was treated to a sneak attack of Raynaud's Phenomenon. Basically, my fingertips get cold, change colors (to white, blue, or red), then throb and tingle. In fact, I'm having another attack as I write this.

Meanwhile, combined with peripheral neuropathy - which I still have although it doesn't usually bother me - I can't even feel my fingertips. If I rub them against parts of my hand that have feeling, it's like I have the pads of a dog's paw touching me. Very odd.

Hopefully this won't be a constant problem all winter, but I'll ask Dr. V. next month when I go for my next CT & labs. Maybe some electric hand-warmers are in the cards for me.

Keep on truckin'

Had my first post-RPLND CT today, as well as labs. Sarah started freaking out last night, "What if there are spots in the pictures? I told her, "Well, then I guess I'd be a leopard." She stopped talking about it after that.

As for today's pictures, they look good now that the "cancer leftovers" have been removed. Everything looks stable, including that one-time potential trouble spot in the lower lobe of my left lung.

Honestly we did more chit-chat w/ Dr. V. and nurse G. about life in general than talking about cancer; nice to feel mostly back to normal...There was of course that damn bump on my head that showed up about 5 minutes after they started pumping the contrast dye into my veins. So wonderful feeling like I'm wetting myself while my head sprouts a horn. They both chuckled at Sarah's comment regarding the cruel nature of removing a man's testicle and then surgically placing an arrow (the scars) on his body to point out the fact that it is gone. This is quickly becoming her favorite TC joke, but it makes me a little “testy” (which is her second favorite TC joke).

We did talk Dr. V about getting "Harry the Bastard" (the port-a-cath) out and he agreed it would be OK, so that'll be the next exciting thing. The best part about getting Harry out is that I can finally quit the coumadin I've been taking daily for the last 6+ months.

But, of course, I couldn't just give up one medicine without starting another now, could I? The neuropathy has been causing me problems at night, especially when trying to sleep, so I'm starting on Neurontin, which won't do anything about the numbness but will stop the pain receptors in my extremities from firing at random like they do presently. Hopefully this will help, and hopefully the neuropathy will eventually ride off into the sunset. The drug isn't cheap, even as a generic ($75 for this round, but I'll go the mail order route after since it's quite a bit cheaper), but if it helps it will definitely be worth it.