Blood Gone Bonkers

As is typical with someone going through chemo, Ed's blood reports are bonkers. His lab printout showed results for 15 items. At least his red count came up slightly since last week so he got off with a procrit shot rather than a transfusion. He reported to the nurse that, on her advice, he's been drinking 64 ounces of water daily and isn't quite as dizzy. She told him he needs to tell Dr. Harwin about the dizziness next week at his appointment. It's nice to have a nurse who explains things.....like why the procrit shot hurts so much.....it's subcutaneous (right under the skin) as opposed to intramuscular, like most shots. The pain did subside in about 10 minutes.

The money involved with all this is appalling. The procrit shot (for the red blood cells) is $700 but Medicare only allows about $400.00, so Ed's 20% co-pay is $77.00 for each shot. The neulasta shot (for the white cells) is $7,000.00 but Medicare allows only so much so Ed's co-pay is a mere $400.00 +.

We stopped at Five Guys Burgers and Fries and Ed treated himself to a bag of their fries. (He doesn't like their burgers because they're dry and expensive.) They really are THE best fries and they give you a brown paper bag filled to the top! They're even better than McDonald's used to be. I ate a few fries, then got a salad and 2 wings when we went to Walmart for a few groceries. Ed also got some wings so as to add protein to his lunch. If you know Ed at all, you probably know he's the "Protein King" AND you know he's very particular about his food!

He and Pepper are having their afternoon nap now. It's 78 degrees with a light breeze blowing through the RV and it's so quiet....hmnn, I might go take a nap myself! ZZZzz!

p.s. Ed just got up because his restless leg syndrome has his leg ajumpin'. RLS is another medical mystery but he feels that his isn't bad enough to want to take any drugs for it. We have observed that tomatoes at supper will usually set it off, but often, we have no clue what makes it "kick up." Sometimes he'll go for a long spell with no problem.

We look forward to hearing about what's going on in your lives and appreciate your comments and/or emails....so please, let us hear from you now and then! We might not be able to respond to every note but this blog, hopefully, is keeping you updated.