Thursday, February 5, 2009

Day +9 - Full-body skin rash, more mucositis

Not much to report today. The docs still think the skin rash is the result of the Imipenem antiobiotic, and we're just waiting to see if it goes down now that we've swtiched to a different one. Oh, and now I'm developing some kind of nasty pink eye at the top of my eyes.

Felt like crap most of the day, as I suffered through a couple more fevers and my mouth is increasingly feeling more painful. Swallowing water takes some work. Hopefully I can stick it out for just a few more days when the new stem cells start growing, which should improve the situation.

Johanna, my mom, and Val hung out with me for most of the day. My mom took Val to the airport in the afternoon to catch a flight back to Los Angeles. Johanna stayed with me through the rest of the day and helped me get breakfast, lunch and dinner down. We also walked another 2 miles around the floor.

It's sort of gross to observers, but the little suction wand to clear out all the extra mucous from your mouth really helps. If you can believe it, the jar is almost half full. Disgusting! The purpose of the saline rinse is to help thin it out and make it less acidic, but at this stage of the game I'm producing mucous with a vengeance.

Johanna and I watched a few more episodes of Monk, and we finally caught up on Lost again. I had fallen asleep during one of the recent episodes.

Brian's mom recently sent him my astrology horoscope for the last week, which is totally fascinating and inspiring given my current circumstances:
From the 26th through February 4th, Jupiter Trines Steve’s Pluto, giving him positive energy for regeneration.

"You have a strong desire to reform and remake your life at the cellular level at this time, and you should be striving to improve conditions surrounding you, to renew and to serve as a vehicle for regeneration in your world. Use your personal power to clear up and clean out. Expect to be offered a chance to lead or influence others, so use that influence to help everyone and everything concerned to join together and grow with you.

On the mundane level, this influence coincides with success and tremendous gains in personal resources. On a more humble level, it can give you the chance to straighten out any type of situation in your life that has been source of trouble for you. Widespread success will permeate your life fully."

8 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey you...
I just caught up on the last couple of blogs... Sooooooooooooo happy to hear about the head scan. Glad there's "nothing in there" ;)

Not so good about the mass mucous production, but sounds like you've got a nifty little tool to use to help you out.

Very "spot on" horoscope, huh? Renew renew renew ;)

I'll call you on Sunday and hopefully you'll be up for a short visit.

Lots of love and healing thoughts always.
Maggie

Unknown said...

^^lol

I think ppl will put up with some of your grossness. I think we expect it to be gross. Don't be ashamed man. Christine sat on my catheter... talk about painful.

So what tunes are you listening to lift your spirits up? What gets you in a good mood?

Love the horoscope.

Anonymous said...

You gotta stay positive! Ya gotta smile! You will be a winner! I can't imagine what you are going through but I do know that staying positive will assist in you getting past all this. Keep Smiling!!!

Unknown said...

SteveR-
Keep up the good spirits. Your attitude will determine the altitude of your recovery..

And I think you are on the right track!

Hope to see you some time in coming days.
Noor

Anonymous said...

Steve:
Happy thoughts to you all! Keep the spirits up and a grin on your mug you'll feel better for it and the bad critters attacking your body will get annoyed and leave all the sooner to make room for the good and healthy ones.

We had 70 turkeys here this morning. There was a huge tom that must weigh at least 25 pounds. His beard looks to be nearly 6 inches long.
Uncle Leon

Anonymous said...

Hmm, maybe we can get Hadi to come up with a business that would turn mucus into money?

My snot factory is still running - as soon as the workers realize I won't pay them, they'll hopefully stop production so I can come and visit you.

Keep up the good fight

- S

Anonymous said...

Awww, that's such a cute picture of you and Jojo! Sorry to hear you're feeling like crap and the mucositis is on a rampage. And pink eye? Bummer, man, hang in there. You're still doing great handling it all. This will hopefully be the worst of it. We'll call you tonight and see if you're up for company.

Anonymous said...

Hey Steve,

I've been thinking about you. You're doing great. Here's a joke to distract you from your mucositis for 60 seconds:

Johnny wanted to have sex with a girl in his office,but she belonged to someone else...

One day, Johnny got so frustrated that he went up to her and said, 'I'll give you a $100 if you let me screw you. But the girl said NO.

Johnny said, 'I'll be fast. I'll throw the money on the floor, you bend down, and I'll be finished by the time you pick it up. '

She thought for a moment and said that she would have to consult her boyfriend.... So she called her
boyfriend and told him the story.

Her boyfriend says, 'Ask him for $200, pick up the money very fast, he won't even be able to get his
pants down.'

So she agrees and accepts the proposal. Half an hour goes by, and the boyfriend is waiting for his girlfriend to call.

Finally, after 45 minutes, the boyfriend calls and asks what happened.

She responded, 'The bastard used coins!'

Management lesson: Always consider a business proposal in its entirety before agreeing to it and getting screwed!