Hi everyone, how are you doing? I am doing okay. I spent my morning yesterday at a follow up appointment with the doctor regarding my swollen lymph node and gland on the left side of my neck which by the way has gone down after finishing the antibiotics, but the right side is now starting to swell. I had a bunch of labs drawn at my previous doctors visit and she reviewed them with me. It shows that the swelling in my neck is because I am Immunosuppressed because of all the radiation I received. Which basically means my white blood cells, lymphocytes, monocytes, neutrophils, etc are all low so I can't fight off infection like someone with a normal count can so she feels that any little virus I am coming in contact with is causing all of the swelling. My BUN and Creatinine levels are also at the high end of normal which means my Kidney function needs to watched closely. Another result of the radiation. It is beginning to make me wonder if I should have let them do all this radiation. She drew more blood work on this visit, and did a chest x-ray. I am also scheduled for a routine mamogram. Some days I wish I could go back to the person I was before knowing about the cancer. I guess things happen for a reason. I also have to follow up with her in another four weeks. Life has become nothing more than a bunch of doctor appointments on my days off.
On to a new subject. We had our second snow fall of the season. Not alot but enough to stick on the ground. It is way too early for snow. I hope this doesn't mean that we are in for alot of snow this season. Ugh....
I have also decided to quit smoking. I am two days out with no nicotine. It has been tough so far but I keep fighting the urge. Keeping my fingers crossed that I can stick with it. I am going cold turkey. I tried once before last year and stuck it out for six weeks. I could kick myself for starting again.
Onto another note, our friend was bow hunting and fell out of a wooden tree stand that must have had some rotten wood. He fell twenty feet to the ground. He is now in the hospital with four fractured vertebrae in the lower back. He is waiting for a brace for his back, and is hoping he will be discharged to home today. There is nothing they can do surgery wise. It just has to heal on its own. I can not stress the importance of safety straps, and this just proves how important they are. Love ya, Mark...hope you are feeling better soon.
