THE UPDATE

I’m off the steroids. We’re counting down the week until I can start my Keytruda trial-of-one. The details are nailed down.

I’m weak, but can walk.

I get what feels like waves of “bone pain” (which I’ve felt from the Lymphoma before), but it’s manageable.

I spike a fever, but it goes right down with Tylenol. But I’m also having weird “sweats” a few times a day.

I’ve been coughing and having hiccup-like spasms if I don’t breathe shallow. Tracey, in her wisdom, has grown more concerned about the coughing and says we’d better have Dr. M listen to my lungs, fearing a worsening infection.

Well, Dr. M. hearing the symptoms says we should act more aggressively and get to the hospital for a rapid series of tests and starting IV meds to cover some infections that could attack my compromised system very quickly.

A number of specialized infectious disease and other doctors line up quickly to do an array of tests. After all the fighting this guy (me) has done, we’re not going to let an infection take him out!

But after a few tests, things change direction: they think that my “bone pain” of the last week was a heart attack. They rush me in for an angiogram and confirm the blockage and damage. What????

I’ve had the physicals, stress tests, and never had any indication of heart issues (though I do have a serious family history of heart issues that I suppose can’t be undone). But what? A heart attack? Maybe it was just from all the stress of all the chemo and prior treatments? Guess we’ll never know.

So, the heart is now stable and we’re back to infection hunting. Hopefully I can still get cleaned up enough and nothing going on will prevent starting the Keytruda. But what a curve-ball and what a reminder that in my situation anything can happen at any time.

MUSING

Have you ever seen census records from the 1920s? All hand-written door-to-door surveys. I found my grandparents and their parents. Where they were from Russia and Poland and that they actually spoke Yiddish at home. You can see the pages here

WHATEVER

Everything is gonna be OK.

A glorious hour at Pt. Dume last weekend.