Saturday, March 07, 2009

Not Dead - Yet


So, instead of going out to dinner with friends last Thursday night, I went down to the local hospital and had a couple of CT-scans - one of my lungs and one of my head. We were looking for clues as to why I have been saddled with lungs full of goo and a head that feels like it's going to pop off any second. This has been going on for over five months.

The results came in the next morning. The lungs are fine, which is important because the chemo drug I am taking can cause lung infections and if the scan showed something like that, I would have to stop taking it.

The head however is very sick. I have a raging case of sinusitis which means all of my sinus cavities are filled up with some fiendish bug that has resisted all attempts at eradication. And when I say filled, I mean packed solid. The scan showed almost no clear space in there at all. Finally I have confirmation that something real is going on.

Since I have been taking antibiotics daily for almost four years as part of a long ended chemo treatment, I am afraid that I have grown a resistant form of bacteria in my little nasal petri dishes. Therefore my doc prescribed some form of super antibiotic that will kill all the good guys as well as the bad (I hope). This means probably diarrhea just in time for me to make the seven hour trip to pick up my daughter for spring break. I'll have to wear some of those diaper things.

Oh, and then there is the snow that is supposed to hit then as well and my only true winter driver is 150 south of here waiting for me to finish a radiator transplant (see previous posts for details of son's pickup truck kiss). This means that I take the Prius, which is a fine car but came equipped with a set of POS summer tires that turn into butter dishes at the first sign of snow. It's going to be quite the ride.

In other news, we are planning on celebrating a couple of birthday's and a housewarming in a couple of weeks. For me, it's one of those decade birthdays which are the only ones I celebrate now and deserves a good party. For someone special to me, it is just another BD that she feels the weight of. For the house, it's been a year under construction and is almost done. If the weather is friendly, we'll be out on the decks, sipping under the stars. It will be a good time and you are invited if you are in the area on March 28th.

As I said, I will be going down to Madison on Tuesday and back with a couple of passengers on Wednesday as I deposit them in the Twin Cities. Thursday I go down to the Mayo for one of my regular checkups and then back to the Cities where I have one day to stick a radiator into the White Whale and put everything back together and test it out by driving it to Duluth in time to make my beer making class at the local co-op. My fingers will be crossed.

My daughter will be joining us for a week when her Model UN session is done down in the Cities. It will be great to see her as her first year at college is slowly coming to a conclusion. What won't be so nice will be the inevitable squabbling over who gets to use which car when. Kids.

So, I think that's it for now. Sorry about being so tardy on the posts. Other things distract.

TTFN

3 Comments:

Blogger lime said...

very glad to hear the lungs are good and the sinus thing sounds positively wretched as do the side effects of treating it. here's to a diarrhea free drive...ugh.

hope the party is a blast, you deserve it!

11:58 AM, March 07, 2009  
Blogger Kristie said...

Glad to hear you're okay, but for the snot colony in your head. I hope the new drugs take care of things for you soon.

Happy birthday in advance! I wish I could be there, but I'm a bit too sane to be flying into Duluth in March. I gave up my down coat a decade ago and never looked back. :o)

12:48 PM, March 07, 2009  
Blogger Cheesy said...

First.. thanks for checking in! lol

Dammit dude sinus woes are some of the worst.. sorry to hear you're a snothead.

Take care on your journey and remember.. save a wine cork or two... Better than diapers any day of the week! [well that or ammodium hehehhe]

7:47 PM, March 07, 2009  

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