a quick note

My leg swelling has gone down.  I am not in pain all the time.  I am walking though not normally.  It is a stiff legged walk.  I can bend my leg and bare weight.  It's just the follow through holding me up.  Everyday my walk gets a little better.  Thanks for all you well wished and wish me luck with chemo tomorrow.  Peace, Kara

update

Again, it's been a long time since my last post.  The last few weeks have been rough.  I have received another 2 pints of blood due to low red blood cell count.  My white blood cells are holding steady for now allowing me to skip my nuelasta shots that stimulate my bone marrow to make more white blood cells.  I don't miss them as they cause discomfort in my bones.  I've been experiencing more left leg pain.  From my knee to my ankle, my leg swelled to about three times its size.  I have been walking with the aide of a cane or a walker and sometimes resorting to a wheelchair.  In order to diagnose this  mystery, I've had many ultrasounds to check for blood clots-zero!  I've been x-rayed to check for bone metastases activity-none!  So, what's up with the swelling?  Oh, it's a not so common side effect of the radiation reacting with my chemo drug gemcitibine.  They are playing a game called radiation recall causing a slight case of compartment syndrome in my muscles.  Compartment syndrome is fluid trapped in the muscles.  It is quite painful and can be serious leading to surgery if it does not alleviate otherwise.  So, I was given steroids to combat the inflammation which is almost gone.  The pain is still with me and I take pain meds to alleviate it.  I don't like taxing my liver in this way so I hope for this to relieve itself soon.  I am using arnica and frankincense on the area to relieve pain and inflammation as well.  I am trying to achieve the perfect balance between rest and movement.  I do not want to turn into a couch potato.  I have had two weeks off chemo due to the swelling in my leg.  Since the thought is that one of my drugs is causing it we postponed a week.  This week I will resume my next round and finish with more tests to check to progress.  A bit of excitement did happen last weekend.  By the request of my Dr. I went to the hospital late Friday night to further research the leg mystery.  My friend GB was with me and we were there in the ER for about 5 hours.  Luckily we did not have to wait in the waiting room because my DR. had been in touch with them.  The stay included more ultrasounds to rule out blood clot.  While there I got a compartment syndrome test which involves a very long, fat needle into 4 different spots of the muscle to test the pressure.  The pressure needs to be less than 30 points of the lower number of my blood pressure.  My lower number is usually between 60 and 70.  My 4 numbers were 30, 25, 16, and 5.  Verdict was unclear but leaned toward a slight case of compartment syndrome with not enough of the other symptoms to make a case for it.  The doc sent me home with a boot to wear and instructions to rest but also keep the ankle and knee moving to help pump out the trapped fluid.  I have to tell you that I am ready for some normalcy.  I hope everyone is doing well.  Give your legs a pat and say thank you for the hard work they do for you everyday.  When you lose some of you mobility, it's eye-opening!