Hi Everyone,I hope today’s health update finds you feeling well. As for Will (my Knight in shining armor —for real!) he’s feeling fine.
As for me, I truly appreciate every positive vibe sent my way, being that over these past couple of months, I’ve been experiencing (and am now recovering from) physical miseries due to chemo treatments, which left me feeling exhausted (anemic) and short of breath (???). As to sudden drops in blood pressure each time I stand up, causing shortness of breath, that malady may be associated more with having cancer than with the debilitating effects of chemo.
Thank goodness, I’d experienced only one ER run when another nose bleed, this one lasting two and a half hours, indicated my need of a platelet transfusion after a blood test showed that my platelet count had taken a dive down to 10,000, normal being 120,000.
As I was not yet hemorrhaging internally, hospital protocol (insurance) tied the hands of the ER doc, who had to send me home.
How did I feel? Well, I chose to remain calm, thinking that a spike in anxiety, triggering an over production of adrenalin, would cause my blood to race through my vessels, and if racing blood had thinned out enough to filter through my arteries, high anxiety could have led to internal bleeding, especially if my platelet count had continued to drop during whatever was left of the night, being that we’d left the ER for home at 2am, and based in my severely weakened condition, had a hemorrhage begun, we might not have make it to the hospital in time to save my life. So it’s plain to see why mustering a heroic attitude proved necessary to keep any rise in anxiety in check, and thus did I focus upon the fact that my weekly appointment for a blood test was, luckily, the next morning, and had that not been the case, my oncologist would have ordered one STAT.
Once that morning’s blood test showed my platelet count to be 6000, my medical team ordered the necessary transfusion, which could not be scheduled till the afternoon, because morning appointments were completely booked, so home we went, heroic attitudes refortified. And to my good fortune, I received the transfusion before insurance protocol, which, caring naught for patient safety, had placed me in waiting mode though internal hemorrhaging could have been the end of me.
With that experience behind me, I’m currently relieved of physical miseries, and with plenty of time to nap, I’ve recouped just enough energy to take very short walks behind my house, and Will and I have thoroughly enjoyed brief visits with family and friends, this past week.
Recently vaccinated, Barry drove in from the coast for Memorial weekend. In addition to celebrating Will’s 79th birthday on that Sunday, all three of our sons were in our house for the first time in the past 18 months.
Recently vaccinated, Barry drove in from the coast for Memorial weekend. In addition to celebrating Will’s 79th birthday on that Sunday, all three of our sons were in our house for the first time in the past 18 months.
As for David, he drove to LA to ‘take care of business’ last week, being that he continues to spend a majority of his time with us in the desert.
Steven and Ravi continue to defy 115 degree heat as, once again, we can’t be inside, together, until after my next surgery, because Ravi is happily enjoying activities with other children—dancing camp and karate, to be exact. So we congregate on the patio, taking turns cooling off in our spa, and thank goodness for that respite from the intensity of the heat.
Steven and Ravi continue to defy 115 degree heat as, once again, we can’t be inside, together, until after my next surgery, because Ravi is happily enjoying activities with other children—dancing camp and karate, to be exact. So we congregate on the patio, taking turns cooling off in our spa, and thank goodness for that respite from the intensity of the heat.
Steven and Ravi have decided that the waterfall is a portal to whatever time and place their imaginations conjure up. And Ravi and I have just begun to create a fairy village in one of the planters adjacent to the spa, suggesting that out time together continues to be spent joyously, no ruminating over the serious illness in our midst.
One day last week, I spent an hour on our patio with three dear friends, neighbors, whose generous heartfelt kindnesses have helped to buoy our spirits in a variety of ways, over this past year and a half. They surprised me with a beautiful Solari bell from my neighborhood book club (which I brought into existence more than two decades ago ), and this deeply meaningful gift will adorn a branch on the tall, thriving, multi-trunked ficus tree, which shades the entire front of our house, once Sherry and Mickey arrive from the Midwest at the end of June, being that Mickey is the best at completing home projects.
Today, David plans to drive here from LA. And next week, every day is filled with appointments at Mayo, as a battery of tests must be completed in readiness for the removal of the rest of my right lung in hopes of ridding my body of every microscopic cell of the tumor that took up residence inside me regardless of the plethora of no vacancy signs that I’ve planted in plain sight from head to toe!
I’ll be sure to keep you posted once results from all of the tests suggest that surgery, late next month, is a go!
Know that you are always included when the depths of our gratitude is absorbed throughout the group hug that Will and I conjure up within the imaginative portion of our minds inclusive of every good soul throughout this world that, during this horrific pandemic, all of us are learning to share with a greater sense of ‘we’ overcoming the self absorbed attitude of ME Me me …😊
🙋🏻♀️💖🔆Annie
One day last week, I spent an hour on our patio with three dear friends, neighbors, whose generous heartfelt kindnesses have helped to buoy our spirits in a variety of ways, over this past year and a half. They surprised me with a beautiful Solari bell from my neighborhood book club (which I brought into existence more than two decades ago ), and this deeply meaningful gift will adorn a branch on the tall, thriving, multi-trunked ficus tree, which shades the entire front of our house, once Sherry and Mickey arrive from the Midwest at the end of June, being that Mickey is the best at completing home projects.
Today, David plans to drive here from LA. And next week, every day is filled with appointments at Mayo, as a battery of tests must be completed in readiness for the removal of the rest of my right lung in hopes of ridding my body of every microscopic cell of the tumor that took up residence inside me regardless of the plethora of no vacancy signs that I’ve planted in plain sight from head to toe!
I’ll be sure to keep you posted once results from all of the tests suggest that surgery, late next month, is a go!
Know that you are always included when the depths of our gratitude is absorbed throughout the group hug that Will and I conjure up within the imaginative portion of our minds inclusive of every good soul throughout this world that, during this horrific pandemic, all of us are learning to share with a greater sense of ‘we’ overcoming the self absorbed attitude of ME Me me …😊
🙋🏻♀️💖🔆Annie
PS
I just heard a key turn in the lock of our front door, indicative of David’s safe return from the coast😍
The Video seen above demonstrates the lengths the men in our family will go to in order to lovingly consider my safety preceding surgery while we watch the playoffs, together, regardless of the 118 degree intensity of the desert heat. Artichoke pizza, anyone? Care to cool off in our spa?😍🏀🍕💃🏻🕺🏼
Sent from my iPhone
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