Sorry everybody, we’ve had visitors over the weekend, and added to the heat I’ve not been working very hard. I also had portions of four days last week in the hands of the medical profession. One of them only involved waiting for a parcel of injectable methotrexate, but it all adds to the disruption and lack of concentration.
Then there is the fact that I have become accustomed to idling my days away as two oscillating fans do their best to make my day bearable.
It is with considerable horror that I realise it has been six days since I last posted. In that time I have taken delivery of an order of injector pens, looked up possible side effects (I had, I admit, too much time on my hands) ,had a blood test and been comprehensively prodded by doctors. On one day I was forced to sit in a small Perspex cage breathing into a tube. Fortunately they had fans around the room and I was able to avoid melting. The technician working the device said I was lucky to be in at 9.45, as it got considerably hotter by mid-day.
One of the side effects of the methotrexate, by the way, is hair loss. This one, I confess, does not worry me. Drowsiness is no real problem either. I like a nap. My liver disintegrating (I may be exaggerating here, they may have used some weasel words like “Functionally impaired”) does concern me a bit but I have quarterly blood test to check on that. I only take it for arthritis, if I was taking it in the dose necessary for chemotherapy I imagine I would be less inclined to make light of the problems. It can also cause memory impairment (“chemo fog”) and . . . well, to be honest I can’t remember the rest . . .
Sorry, couldn’t resist
Although it’s true, I do have difficulty with this sort of thing. Some of the words are very long and barely comprehensible. Sometimes it’s like being hit repeatedly with a dictionary, or a sock full of billiard balls.
I keep meaning to take better care of myself, but it can be difficult when you don’t know what the words mean.
The good news is that I passed the blood test. The respiratory test showed decent results. Not good, but a lot better than I feared. Once the results are with the doctor, we will see what happens. Probably not a lot.
Little Egret – Blacktoft Sands
It sounds like you are doing the best you can with the condition, all anyone can do.
Yes, it is just so hot all I want to do is drink cold water and sit by a fan. It is getting cooler but is predicted to rise again soon. Ah well, more water and relaxation . . . 🙂
Hope things improve for you. Sounds like it’s been rough. Beautiful pictures.
Reading my posts from 12 months ago it was rough. This has just been irksome. So far I have managed to stop Julia having anymore accidents, which has made things seem a lot better. 🙂
Laziness is part of the mix, though I was disappointed not to find it on the list of side-effects.
I think you can forgiven the lack of daily posts. Sounds like a horrible few days. Whereas I’m just lazy 😉
When I first started taking methotrexate I also worried about the side-effects, especially hair-loss, which has never happened I am pleased to say. I took tablets at first and over two or three years the dose was increased to the maximum allowed so all that time I experienced nausea which subsequently became less over time until I only got it during the 24 hours after taking the tablets. I then started injections (which at that time weren’t pens but syringes) and the difference in the effect the drug made was almost immediate and amazing. The nausea reduced to almost nothing and I went into remission and have stayed that way ever since despite reducing the dosage slowly by a small amount about eight years ago. Unfortunately, the methotrexate makes no difference to my osteo-arthritis only working on my rheumatoid arthritis. Good luck, Simon.
My digestion settled down after a few months but they moved me to injections because I kept complaining I couldn’t get the tiny pills out of the packet due to my bad fingers. I presume what I am left with is the osteo-arthritis. The worst thing is my capacity for catching infections, but I’m learning to cope with them better too – stay away from people, particularly in winter. 🙂
I also catch most of what is going around, usually from Richard who is happy to share everything he has with me. 😀
It is better that way. During COVID I know someone who had it without passing it on to his wife. I passed it on to Julia before we even knew I had it. I know which couple I would prefer to be part of. 🙂
Yes! The guilt, the guilt!
🙂
Those few days have been energy-sapping for anyone
It is a comfort to know it isn’t just me.
I have recently had blood tests and I asked for a printout. Five pages. variety of red page after page. But sometimes it marked 15 where the safety is 1 – 14 so I won’t worry until the returns from a month’s holiday.
Worry, I was always told, is a killer. As was recently pointed out, being overly relaxed can have fatal consequences too. I’m working on finding the middle ground . . . 😉