Healing

Maddie is healing nicely. They took everything off her leg. It's kind of swollen, so we're supposed to apply a warm compress and massage four times a day. Also she has to keep the "lampshade" on all the time, because she goes right for the leg. They said she should be able to eat and drink with it on, but she just can't reach, so we take it off for a few minutes while she has a meal, and then we put it right back on.

She apparently has no nerve damage, which is terrific.

I think part of the whining stemmed from hating the lampshade, but she seems to have gotten used to it. We had two good nights of real sleep.

I don't know if we're just imagining it, but she seems depressed. The sad face also probably comes from the pain meds, which make her sleepy. And maybe she misses her routine daily walk. We've been catering to her like a little princess.

I went to physical therapy twice this week (for myself). I went on a bike and used a leg press, then did some floor exercises for balance. My ankles are swollen, and Melissa said I could help by drinking a lot and by walking. Yesterday it was close to 100 degrees, and I walked about a mile around the lake with Deb and her dog, Mary Margaret. At the end she went towards her house and I headed for mine. I was almost home and started to feel I might not make it. Just then my friend Gayle drove by and gave me a ride home. I was supposed to go to a graduation but I just couldn't make it. Gayle deposited me at home and warned against going anywhere. I don't think I could have anyway.

I have to be a little smarter. If they say walk every day, they mean to take conditions into consideration. I messed up a planned event by forging ahead thoughtlessly.

My counts are a little screwed up. A week ago my potassium, usually high, was normal. This week it was high again: 6.3 out of a normal range of 3.5-5.0. This can affect your heart, so I went for an EKG, which was normal. I had to stay for a bag of fluids and a double dose of icky powder mixed with water, Kayexalate. My infusion room nurse said that if it didn't go down after this, they wouldn't let me go. Luckily it did go down, to 5.3. I have to take the drug twice a week and look over the (long) list of potassium rich foods to see what I might be missing.

Sodium, as it often is, was low. I'm trying salt tablets now. Mellisa said my other counts were fine and not to worry, but they looked a little peculiar to me. She also pointed out that I've gone up and down before.

WBC was 9.6 , high. (Normal is 3.8-9.2)

Hematocrit was down to 27.5 (normal is 34.8-43.6)

Platelets were 90 (normal is 155-410). Not over 100 like they were recently.

I went down again on the prednisone, from 40 to 30. There's usually some small thing to be happy about.