I noticed on Tuesday morning that my right arm started feeling sore and red just like my left arm. Lo and behold, I got phlebitis on it too from the last round of chemo that they did on Sunday night. You can faintly see it traveling up my arm.
I feel like at this point if I don’t do something about it and keep using IVs, I’m going to end up looking like Drax the Destroyer from Guardians of the Galaxy.
Yesterday I felt really physically good. While I’m still only getting an hour and a half of sleep, my energy continues to go up and I’m eating a ton. I’m still learning to control the nausea but it hasn’t gotten at me too badly where I’ve had to barf a lot. Drinking tons of water definitely helps with this.
Few food things I’ve learned so far. Toasted or raw garlic gets me. At home we tend to saute veggies and add some garlic toasted in sesame seed oil on top. I can’t handle the smell or taste anymore even though I normally love it. Sour stuff gives me a really bad stomach ache. I had a pickle spear with my sandwich and that had me doubled over in pain. 🙁
Also, air temp has to be at most 75f for me. Any warmer, I’m gasping for air and can’t breathe. I’ve had a few instances where I needed Jonathan to run to my parents room to turn on the AC in the middle of the night. I heard this week is going to get up to 100f, glad I don’t have anywhere to go I guess.
While the blog takes up a good chunk of my day, I’m actively trying to combat boredom by learning and prepping for different things. For instance, I can’t shave with a my normal mach 3 turbo razer anymore for risk of cutting myself so I’ve been trying to figure out how to use a rotating electric razor. Protip: it ONLY works for the face.
People have been encouraging me to grow out my facial hair since I’ve never had a chance to do it before, I picked up a beard trimmer so hopefully I don’t mess up too badly for my first time.
Joanna said I should experiment and try to pull off the Orlando Bloom look.
The end of the day yesterday did not go well at all. Joanna got home from work and found that Speedy got into some food that I had stored in a cardboard box from work. I totally blame myself for this because I quickly packed up my work stuff into a box and shoved it into a corner in the living room at home instead of putting it all away even though at the time, I wasn’t able to lift anything over 10 lbs.
I enjoy eating golden raisins with my yogurt or oatmeal in the morning (Amy I know you think this is gross). People typically know that chocolate is bad for dogs but raisins and grapes are also toxic for dogs. It can cause kidney failure.
Many of you know that I joke about Speedy being a pig. This is not without reason. He LITERALLY cannot stop himself from eating.
He had a weight “issue” when he was one year old…
I clearly remember a conversation I was having with my friend Schuyler.
Schuyler: Loo your dog is fat
Me: Noooo he’s nahhhhhtttt
By my estimate, he ate about 15oz of raisins and half a can of cashews. I don’t think he got into the Halls cough drops. This would make any normal human puke let alone a 23lb Jack Russell.
Joanna called me immediately and I talked to the Vet poison control line which charged me $60 to start a case number while Joanna drove him to the emergency vet.
Based on this video, you would think he’s fine right?
Joanna got him to the vet at around 7pm last night. He was all happy and having fun in the exam room until he just stopped, swayed back and forth, then let it all out.
***Warning…dog puke
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Joanna said that after he puked it all up he was back to normal and wondering when they’d get to go home. The vet recommended that he stay at the hospital for 2 nights for observation considering they don’t know when he ate all those raisins and they didn’t want to run the risk of kidney failure.
The vet bill is estimated to be between $1700 – $2000. I asked them if they also give him chemo therapy *eye roll*
We’ve been buddies for 6.5 years, of course I’m not going to let anything happen to him. I’m just really frustrated that the last time I got to pet him was 2 weeks ago and I only got to briefly see him from the back of the car when I got home from the hospital earlier this week.
The vet assigned to Speedy did call me around 10pm saying:
- They were able to induce more vomiting with charcoal.
- The baseline blood work and urine analysis is good
- Kidneys are functioning correctly
- They’re going to start him on fluid therapy to flush his system
- I’ll get an update in the morning on how he’s doing
He assured me that he sees these types of cases at least once a week and has never gotten a problem with raisins with a dog that started at this point with fluid therapy, so it means that we got him in on time. *whew*
Remember last week when I said two’s company with my dad finding out he has prostate cancer? Well three’s a crowd with Speedy being in the hospital for the next 48 hours.
I guess at this point I don’t have to worry about running out of blog content….
I’m just sad that I can’t be around him until I’m done with chemo (12 weeks) and they give me the green light that my immune system is back to normal.
Following up your blog everyday, i’m amazed with your great effort, your strong mind and your humor! Keep up and get well soon. Sending good vibes and our love to you.
Ew, raisins!