Exjade and other excitement

Inspired by PJ's post that seven months of Exjade had finally lowered her ferritin levels to normal, I asked Melissa at my last appointment if I should restart.

The stuff had upset my stomach, and they had given me quite a long break, but she said yes, I should restart. I placed the bottle on the counter and eyed it for a couple of days, and earlier this week I decided to give it a try. You dissolve five tablets in water, chug it on an empty stomach, and wait 30 minutes to eat.

It doesn't taste as bad as Kayexalate, the powder I dissolve to lower my potassium level. That stuff has the grainy consistency of sand mixed in water. But it doesn't make me queasy the way Exjade does.

Still, as PJ and I discussed, it's something I can do for my liver, where ferritin is stored. I can't do anything about the GVHD in my liver (except continue taking my prednisone) but I do have control over this.

The other day after I drank my first glass of Exjade, I immediately felt like I was going to throw up, and I lay on the couch talking to PJ until I felt better.

The same day, like a mad dog or an Englishman, I played two sets of tennis under the (hot hot hot) midday sun. I didn't plan it; I am playing with a group of women who play from 11 to 12:30, and I didn't want to bag out. It was actually fine for most of the time, except near the end we were all tired hitting terrible shots and confessed to thinking the same thing: "Can we stop now?"

We ate some watermelon, drank a lot of water and went on our way. There was no long-lasting effect.

Respectful of the heat wave, I haven't tried running. I even skipped a dog walk one day. Yesterday, however, I did walk Maddie in the morning, around 9:30. I thought it was early enough, but I came home dripping with sweat and not feeling well.

This morning it took a while for the sun to come out, so under cover of clouds, I took her again around the same time. It was much better, so I tried jogging a short distance. She's mostly good about it, but it's hard to get far with her on the leash, what with sniffing and needing to say hello to people.

I don't let her to go over to everyone, but she seemed to really want to stop to be petted by a nice older woman who had just walked. She said she lives at a nearby retirement village and goes once around each lake on most days.

She was very worried about the fact that there are lilies on the lower lake, a sign, she said, that there is something wrong with the water. (She was going to ask somebody official about this.)

Plus, although the nasty goose is still there, she said the ducks have moved to the upper lake. I can't say I have noticed, but when I walk there I'm not looking that closely for runaway ducks.

I kind of lost track when she was telling me a story about watching the mother feed the babies, but still, I enjoyed our 10 minutes together. You don't have these little conversations if you are dogless and concentrating on running.