'Fun' day planned tomorrow

As I wrote previously, four of my teeth decayed badly in the time period during chemotherapy when I was severely immunosuppressed .

The teeth couldn't be saved. I had two extracted by a surgeon near me and am having the other two taken out tomorrow in Boston. My platelets, 61 at my last check-up a month ago, are lower than they were when I had the first two taken out. They are OK for getting around – and not worrisome because everything else is OK – but borderline for something like dental surgery where there could be a lot of bleeding. (Obviously I don't know what they are now, but the pattern is that they just haven't climbed very much.)

I could have gotten platelets and the extraction back home, but the Dana-Farber people like to supervise this kind of thing. My check-up is at 11, followed by the platelets around noon. I need to take a Benadryl before the infusion to head off the allergic reaction consisting of hives and rashes that I had in the past. I'm also going to take two Ativan, as recommended by the dentist, at about the same time.

Diane is going to pick me up and walk me next door to Brigham and Women's Hospital, where the surgeon's office is. I get the teeth out around 1. I expect to be loopy enough at that point that I won't really care.

We're getting up early tomorrow for an 8 a.m. yoga class. I figure that will be my only chance to get any semblance of exercise in the next couple of days.

Tuesday morning I'm scheduled to see the dermatologist so she can check on the status of the squamous cell carcinoma in situ (on the skin) that is on my forehead. I've been applying a cream to it twice a day. I don't know the medical term for how it looks; the only word I can come up with is yukky. After that appointment, I plan to drive back home if I'm up to it.

Oh, also, my bloodwork tomorrow includes a fasting cholesterol test. I hope that the result doesn't prevent me from enjoying the blueberry muffin I'm going to pack.

I had a whirlwind day today, first lunch with Katie, then a walk in the woods with Margaret, and then dinner at Diane's, where I am now, preparing for my cholesterol test and my weigh-in by having chocolate chip cookies and milk. I needed to pack in all the fun that I could today.