medical bits
It's barely noon and today is already a day of medical bits.
An article in this week's Time magazine compares the care two women receive(d) for their cancer, to illustrate the disparity in medical care, especially cancer care, for a variety of reasons. What kind of cancer did these women have? Glioblastomas, of course. And even in reading the ground-breaking care received by the woman who has seen no new growth in her cancer cells in a year or more now, my decision remains the same. Should I get this cancer, and there's no reason I shouldn't, given my family history with this non-genetic cancer, I will politely but firmly decline radiation and chemo. I might go along with the initial surgery, but I just don't see the point of either radiation or chemo. Spending a few hellish months to stretch my life out a few more, not-likely-to-be-great months? Forget it. I'd rather be me as long as I can, then get some decent palliative care before ending things purposefully.
ETA: Had a chat with Michael about this- we are in agreement. Yay!
The orange cat is vomiting left and right today. I should have seen it coming, after her eating patterns the last couple of days. Hopefully this will follow the usual barfing pattern, where she spends most of the day throwing up, then eats fairly normally the next couple of days. She's also coughed up a higher-than-usual number of hairballs. Gonna have to watch again for overgrooming.
ETA: by noon I'd lost track of how many times she's barfed. *sigh*
Michael's on a second course of Prednisone. His eyes did get better from the first course, but not better enough, so he and his Dr. decided this was the next step. Bleah for all of us. Fortunately he learned some things on the first course - he hadn't been watching his blood sugar closely enough, which affects both his MG and his diabetes (which affects his MG). He also hadn't been getting enough sleep, which is affected by his blood sugar & blood pressure, and by stressing about his MG.
Michael will also start using a CPAP, which will hopefully help him sleep better. Which will help his body manage his blood sugar, which will affect his MG. And it will help his body repair quicker, which will help his MG. And it might allow him to manage his weight better, which will help his blood pressure and blood sugar, which will help his MG. And getting better sleep/rest will allow him to be a bit less stressed, which will help his MG.
Meanwhile, I'm still deciding whether to keep looking for a DO in town or figure out how to get to the one I know in Vancouver.
Plus, I'm hoping to get a last-minute appointment with the oral surgery folks over my vacation - for the pre-surgery part of yet another gum graft - so I don't have to keep the appointment I already have for the week I go back to work and figure out how to reschedule staff meetings because of it.
An article in this week's Time magazine compares the care two women receive(d) for their cancer, to illustrate the disparity in medical care, especially cancer care, for a variety of reasons. What kind of cancer did these women have? Glioblastomas, of course. And even in reading the ground-breaking care received by the woman who has seen no new growth in her cancer cells in a year or more now, my decision remains the same. Should I get this cancer, and there's no reason I shouldn't, given my family history with this non-genetic cancer, I will politely but firmly decline radiation and chemo. I might go along with the initial surgery, but I just don't see the point of either radiation or chemo. Spending a few hellish months to stretch my life out a few more, not-likely-to-be-great months? Forget it. I'd rather be me as long as I can, then get some decent palliative care before ending things purposefully.
ETA: Had a chat with Michael about this- we are in agreement. Yay!
The orange cat is vomiting left and right today. I should have seen it coming, after her eating patterns the last couple of days. Hopefully this will follow the usual barfing pattern, where she spends most of the day throwing up, then eats fairly normally the next couple of days. She's also coughed up a higher-than-usual number of hairballs. Gonna have to watch again for overgrooming.
ETA: by noon I'd lost track of how many times she's barfed. *sigh*
Michael's on a second course of Prednisone. His eyes did get better from the first course, but not better enough, so he and his Dr. decided this was the next step. Bleah for all of us. Fortunately he learned some things on the first course - he hadn't been watching his blood sugar closely enough, which affects both his MG and his diabetes (which affects his MG). He also hadn't been getting enough sleep, which is affected by his blood sugar & blood pressure, and by stressing about his MG.
Michael will also start using a CPAP, which will hopefully help him sleep better. Which will help his body manage his blood sugar, which will affect his MG. And it will help his body repair quicker, which will help his MG. And it might allow him to manage his weight better, which will help his blood pressure and blood sugar, which will help his MG. And getting better sleep/rest will allow him to be a bit less stressed, which will help his MG.
Meanwhile, I'm still deciding whether to keep looking for a DO in town or figure out how to get to the one I know in Vancouver.
Plus, I'm hoping to get a last-minute appointment with the oral surgery folks over my vacation - for the pre-surgery part of yet another gum graft - so I don't have to keep the appointment I already have for the week I go back to work and figure out how to reschedule staff meetings because of it.