Dr.Ko, the excellent Haematology consultant at Broomfield Hospital (NHS) took pity on the way I was "walking" and set out to hit things hard and fast with the steroid Dexamethasone for two weeks - that's actually one of the elements of the VTD chemo cocktail that I will be coming to later. He also ordered bone-strengthening bisphosphonates to counter what my very good college friend and retired rheumatologist Richard calls the "bone-melting" effect of such corticosteroids. Also taking a blood thinner to guard against increased clotting risk.
It seems to have worked - full paraprotein analysis not in yet but overall blood proteins are down significantly (suggesting that the cancerous plasma cells in my bone marrow have been knocked back a bit) and the walking is definitely improved, although some of that might be attributable to the various pain-killers I'm taking (Naproxen / Omeprazole, Morphine Sulphate tablets, Paracetamol up to daily limits).
One definite effect has been a few sleepless nights - I've been getting up after two or two and a half hours and seeing bits of morning I'd almost forgotten about. A good uninterrupted opportunity to get stuff done on the computer...
Tonight (morning of 18/09/19) I couldn't get to sleep at all so here I am at the k/board again... Will see how it goes and try for sleep again again in another hour or two. I may find it easier to nod off in my study chair than in bed. After all, I do it often enough during the day!
I've been taking blood thinners for some years as a preventative measure. The downside is that the slightest bump on a hand or arm results almost immediately in a purple bruise which takes over a week to disappear. Quite often I'll find a bruise has appeared and I'll have no memory of what caused it.
ReplyDeleteI haven't had anything like that - yet!
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