Second Chances

So far April has not been a month of much news and excitement. The salivary gland issue came and went, and whether it will make an encore appearance is anyones guess. The edema has not significantly changed in the last few weeks, although it seems to be a little tamer than in the past.

After a month of being put on the Crestor, I went in to Boston Medical to have some blood work done to see how the new drug is doing. I'm pleased to announce that it has significantly cut down my cholesterol and triglycerides to their lowest levels since I was diagnosed in May 2005. The triglycerides are again in normal (albeit high-normal) range. I'm making good progress here, although I would expect so -- I'm on three different lipid drugs, fish oil and a custom diet. The doctor is happy with the results, and since my liver hasn't died yet, he's doubling my Crestor dose until I get the cholesterol under control.

I was very sad to hear that our amyloid friend Philip will need to go in for his second transplant in the fall. Like me, he only got 9 pins down... now he just needs to go in for the spare. Hang in there, Philip! You are in my thoughts.

A Gland Ole Time

This is the first week since I came back to work that resembles "full-time" work. This includes getting up early and doing the morning commute, and then scrambling back home to get chores done before I am fully exhausted. As I predicted, it is turning out to be a tiring week thus far as body gets re-accustomed to the old schedule. This isn't a result from being on the chemo, but a result of sitting on one's ass for the greater part of eight months.

The edema is still behaving itself, and it appears that I will be able to get by with taking two maintenance doses of Lasix (20mg) a month. This is assuming that I stick to the low-sodium diet, wear the compression stockings, and other not-fun things.

Ever since I came out of the second transplant, I have had this issue with with my mouth and neck. Every so often, say about once a month, I would wake up with a blood blister on that little thingy underneath your tongue. (Sorry, I don't know what the official name is.) When this happens, it swells up a bit, and if I ate something, my left side of my neck would swell up, making it painful to eat and swallow. If I stopped eating for a couple hours, it would calm down and go away. I brought it up to the doctors when I was in treatment, but it never happened when I was there, so it could not be diagnosed.

Well, I had another episode earlier this week, and it was quite severe. The lump in my neck was almost the size of a golf ball. That was enough for me. I called my doctor and asked if he could see me that day so he could check it out. I was in his office within 2 hours.

Well, it turned out to be a swollen salivary gland, perhaps used by a salivary stone or bacterial infection that got me while my immune system was down. So I am now on penicillin to try to get rid of it. I already take a handful of pills and supplements every day -- why not take one more?