3/6/23 Monday.  I thought I studied enough for my tests today, but apparently, not hard enough.  Poop.  Ok, here goes.....

I have a sebaceous cyst under my right arm that's caused by radiation.  It's a pain in the butt (or arm, as it may be), but she called in some stuff to try and kill it.  I have new spots on my chest that are raised and spreading.  Apparently cause by radiation.  the Rx she called in should help these, also.  The scar tissue seems to be getting a bit worse - apparently also caused by radiation.  Who knew that radiation would still be tormenting me after all this time?!?

She said my upcoming cataract surgery would be fine to have.  That's about the only good part of my visit today.

She's sending me back to my cardiologist and the appointment has already been made.  Geez.  That was fast.  She agrees with my decision to wait until August to have another MRI at MD Anderson to take a peek at the tumor.  She scheduled an MRI of my brain for later this month.  I think my earache has her concerned.  I've had it for 2 months now.  I go see the ENT guy in a week or so.  I was supposed to see him on Wednesday, but something came up, so I rescheduled.

My thyroid score is ok, so that's good.  My cancer antigen 15-3 went down just a tad, so that's good.  My carcinoembryonic antigen score went up a tad, so that's bad.  I figure they are canceling each other out.  That theory works for me.  My red blood count went down and is too low.  My white count also went down - a whole point - so that's not good at all.  I have to be careful around animals and make sure my raw food is washed thoroughly.  No mosquito bites, cuts, etc.  I try to be careful all the time, but it's to the critical stage again.

I thought all that would be better, so it was a bit disheartening to get the results today.  My tendons/muscles on the left side of the back of my neck and back are really stiff.  She noticed that without me saying anything.  You can actually see the difference between the sides.  Guess what caused that?!?  Yup.  Radiation.  Radiation may have saved my life, but it sure did a number on my body in the process.

I've been wearing my new pressure suit with the trunk portion.  I truly look like the Michelin Man.  Watching me try and get out of my recliner after an hour of therapy is something to see.  Kodak Moment, for sure.  It's like trying to get out of a rocker when 9 months pregnant.  No.  It's worse.  I'm totally laughable.

Not a great post this evening, huh?  Oh, wait, there's more....  I can't get my O2 level above 95%.  It sits at 92% at rest.  Sigh.  No, that's worthy of a Heavy Sigh.  SIGH.

I did tell my oncologist a joke this visit.  Well, I always do.  It tickled her funny bone and she snickered all thru my visit every time she thought of it.  That was the best part.  For sure.

I gained a few pounds this past week.  She said it appeared to be fluid.  I'm puddling.  I wish I could stick myself in the dryer and shrink myself a couple of sizes.  Ok, just one size.  I'd be happy with one size.  And wrinkle-free.  Yeah, I could stand to lose a few wrinkles, too.

Tip for the day:  Actually, it's a survival tip.  If you ever get lost in the woods, start talking about politics.  It won't be long before someone shows up to argue with you.

I wasn't going to mention this because it all happened so fast, but I feel like I should.  I took a job at my own bank, but I got fired before the first day was even 1/2 over.  An old guy came in and asked me to check his balance, so I pushed him over.  Apparently that was the wrong response to his request.  My bad.