HSCT Journals

February 7th

by | Feb 8, 2022 | Blog Posts, HSCT Journals | 6 comments

I woke up feeling OK, but soon after developed an intense headache.

8am meds today:

Dexamethasone .5mg
Pantoprazole 40mg
Ondansetron 8mg

I also started taking Tylenol and Ibuprofen first thing for my headache. Plus, I had this really uncomfortable queasiness. I took it easy for a while then tried some meditation and Yoga With Adriene thinking that would help my head. Nope, no help, although it was great for other body health reasons.

I think my brain is feeling what they call ‘chemo brain’. It’s more than the usual MS cognitive fog I feel at times. To describe it, I’m more than a few steps behind on everything that’s said or what I’m writing.

I reached out to Elvia to ask her if I could try some of her popsicles she said helped with her nausea and queasiness. A quick ‘yes’ from her and Fernie took off downstairs, grabbed a few and brought them to me. I sucked it slowly wondering how it’d feel going down, yet trying hard not to drip it on me nor my bed. I’m notorious for spilling things and making a mess, for those who don’t know me. It was definitely helpful (plus 260 calories of glorious pure sugar lol).

Since the Tylenol/Iburpofen combo wasn’t effective for my unrelenting headache, Fernie called the doctor and I was given some Tramacet (Tramadol) from our ‘emergency’ box. To explain what I mean, I have this box of extra medications in the apartment just so that they can be dispensed quickly when needed. There were also the standard medications in a blue bag that were here in the apartment when I arrived.

Quite late in the afternoon Dr. Alex came to give my Filgrastim shot. We are getting the routine more streamlined now. When Dr. Alex arrives, Fernie warms up the vials to help ease the painful shock of them, and I pre-ice the area where the shot will go. The shots are rotated to a new place each day. Tomorrow I’ll post a video on the Filgrastim being administered. That’s your warning squeamish people, haha.

I asked Dr. Alex to read my MRI reports (brain, C-spine, T-spine, and Lumbar) that finally came back (in Spanish) to me in English. I used the application Otter to record-to-text the information. It was hard to know exactly what the difference was between my last MRI in June 2021, but it seemed there was something new visualized in my C-spine in relation to the disease. Perhaps it was just the translation, not sure. I wish I had a neuroradiologist to really help me know what the heck is happening in there.

Towards 6pm my headache became bearable, I ate a bit more and watched some Olympic skating (yah!).

8pm – Ondansetron 8mg

Lastly, thank you again to everyone who writes, comments, messages and emails me. It’s wonderful to hear all the support and encouragement. I’m eating it up big time 🙂

PS – For privacy reasons only, I have been deleting the full surnames of those who post comments on my blog and keeping only the first letter of your surname. Just so you know, all comments are emailed to me and I approve them first before they are published 🙂

6 Comments

  1. Lauren Allen

    Thank you for sharing your experience with us. I hope you are keeping well & I look forward to your updates. Stay well. X

    Reply
  2. Dave

    Go jenny go!!

    Reply
  3. Anne Rolison

    Dearest Jenny:

    I have been reading your blogs. I thought cantaloupe may be better than popsicle to give you nutrients. I found this out with a friend undergoing chemo.

    Just want you to feel better and always here.
    Anne & Pippy

    Reply
  4. Chantel

    My notifications are definitely a little off and just realizing I can manually check for new posts. 😃 Hope the headache is finally giving you a break! There’s a neat feature on Google translate where you can is a phone camera to translate text right before your eyes. Not sure if this would ever be a helpful tool when trying to go over documents in Spanish. Happy to share more if you think it would help! Xo 🌹

    Reply
  5. Amanda Olivier

    I used my nightguard to clinch down for those shots, too. And just about every time Alex hit that buzzer, it was like a trigger for me to go pee. It made me nervous every damn time. LOL

    Sounds like Fernando is working out as a caretaker?

    Reply
    • Jenny Angus

      You had to go pee?! That’s a crazy autonomic reaction. Yes he’s awesome 🙂

      Reply

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