Category: General

A friend sent this picture of a pumpkin she carved with her family. I was never any good at this. I don’t have a single successful pumpkin carving to my credit.

I had a flu shot today. It was almost painless. Some people just have a talent for giving shots, don’t they? I had to sign a scary waiver beforehand.

I got my pregnancy test done today at the local clinic. The results were faxed to Celgene, and my thalidomide rx was released to me, so I’m set for another 28 days.

I had blood drawn last Thursday, and expected to have the results today, but nobody could find the report. The doctor said that he had seen the report, and “everything looked good.” Apparently that’s good enough for his other patients, but I like to see the report and have my own copy. The last two months have been unlucky for me, as far as that goes. I asked him if he knew what my serum IgA was, and he read the number from my August test. Oh well. I’ll wait until my November appointment at UNC for a complete report. This month I went to the local clinic for tests, since my UNC doctor was out of the country. I’ll know better next time.

The October, 2003 issue of Natural Health magazine contains a short article about
fish!

One important point is safe handling. As with any raw meat, cross-contamination should be avoided between fish and other foods. Washing your hands before and after handling raw fish is essential too. Cook your fish thoroughly. Defrost frozen fish in the refrigerator, not on the countertop. When buying, look for fish displayed on ice. The skin should be shiny and clear and the flesh resilient, not mushy.

The safest seafood? According to Purdue University: wild Alaska salmon, shrimp, farm-raised channel catfish and rainbow trout, flounder, perch, tilapia, clams, scallops and red swamp crayfish.

Find out more at cfsan.fda.gov or call 888-SAFE-FOOD.

"Bad fish good fish." Natural Health October, 2003: 19.

There are requirements for Thalomid (thalidomide)that need to be fulfilled each month in order to get a prescription filled, and I neglected one of the steps. Each month I have to have a pregnancy test, and it has to be negative in order for Celgene to allow my prescription to be filled. UNC has been running a test along with my regular labs when I have blood drawn, and this month I had my blood work done in Pinehurst. It just slipped my mind. This put a hold on my Rx. If you’re a woman of childbearing age, you have to remember the following (I think it holds true for everyone else, except for the pregnancy test):

1. Monthly (negative) pregnancy test.
2. Monthly telephone survey.
3. 7 Days from the time the rx is authorized until it’s filled. After that, you have to go through the authorization process again.

When you call in for the telephone survey, there are several questions to answer. It used to be a live person, but it’s all automated now. You’re asked if you’ve shared your Thalomid with anyone else, if you’ve donated blood (we’re not allowed to), if you’re post-menopausal for more than 2 years, if you’ve had sex with a male partner in the last 4 weeks, if you used at least 2 of the recommended forms of contraception and if you’ve had a hysterectomy.

So… tomorrow I have to get a pregnancy test! It’s the last day I have to get the rx filled. Luckily, I have an appointment with my oncologist in Pinehurst at 10 am.

Yesterday I had blood drawn in Pinehurst. This month my doctor is out of the country, so I didn’t make the trip tp UNC. When I was asking the local oncologist’s nurse to run the tests for me, I realized I didn’t know exactly what they’re called. I know I get a CBC and chemistry. Then I also get something that tells me what my immunoglobulins are doing. I thought it was SPEP, but it turns out it’s SIEP. She asked if I wanted a metabolic panel, and I just said I mostly care about my kidneys, so as long as I see what my creatinine is, I’ll be ok.

I’m going to have to ask the doctor to write this stuff down for me!

I’ll get the results on Monday when I see the local oncologist.

I think I might look for another blog application to use. A few days ago, this one was used by some script kiddies to deface my web site. I don’t usually look at my own index page, so I didn’t even know! I was looking at a web stats report and saw a strange referrer there. I decided to check it out, and found that my site was on a list of what they call “owned” sites. Actually, just because a php script vulnerability was exploited, it doesn’t mean the site was “owned.” What’s implied by that term is that root access was gained. That’s not the case in this situation. I have seen what can happen when that occurs, and it’s not pretty!

I got the security hole fixed, according to the author’s recommendation. I really have to say that I hate hackers and script kiddies. They’re nothing more than vandals. If they were as smart as they think they are, they’d be in business making money, not playing around, doing the cyber equivalent of scratching cars with keys in parking lots.

When I was first diagnosed, I went to one MM support group meeting. It was just me (and my brother & sister) and one other MM patient and her husband. The whole cancer thing was very new to me. I asked the other patient what was important to keep in mind. She said that what she cares most about was that everyone treated her the same as they did before she had a diagnosis of cancer.

People say things like this, but do they really mean it? Or is it something that sounds great in a society where stoicism is admired? I’m going to go out on a limb and say that, unless you were previously addressed as “Your Royal Highness,” you want to be treated better than you were before your diagnosis.

Of course I believe that people should be nice to each other all the time, not just when times are tough. When you’ve been told you have a life threatening disease, you need extra niceness. You don’t want to be treated the way people treat you when they assume you’re going to be around another 40 years. Cancer is a nasty ride, emotionally and physically, and I want people to be nice to me. I’ve been thinking about having bumper stickers made like the ones you see that say, “Be nice to me. I donated blood today.” How about, “Be nice to me. I have cancer?”

What’s my point? I’m saying that you don’t have to pretend you want people to ignore your condition. You need extra love and attention. So do they.