Home via "Hong Kong"

My LaTeX has gotten rusty again. Ten years ago I used it to typeset just about everything I wrote using LaTeX; but from years of not using it, I've forgotten most of the markup symbols. LaTeX is a derivative of TeX which is a scripting language used particularly to create and typeset mathematical symbols and formulas together with normal text in papers and books. Mathematicians still use it, so I need to get up to speed on it again so I can teach Laurie how to script her math papers.

Willow's canon worked. Both my white counts and neutrophils were 6 times higher than normal this morning. I would sure hope so after 5 Nuprogen 480 injections. The doctors said that's what they were aiming for. I think they were aiming for anything normal or above, especially after I hardly reacted to the first four Nuprogen shots — it's a good sign that the last three worked so well. I still have a slight sore throat, but that's probably leftover from whatever virus I picked up — now all those white cells will have to work on it. I go back next week to see how my immune system is holding up.

The weather widget is predicting snow and below zero temperatures. It's showing -2 for Wednesday, which means it will be at least -10 or colder if the weather service is correct. We'll see.

With the dreary morning and a busy afternoon at the office, I didn't get any good photo opportunities until the way home tonight; so I did more photos after dark from the car. You can follow my drive home tonight from Gold Ave, downtown to "Hong Kong", about 1/4 mile south on North Coors before Corrales Road, and no more lights.

Gold Ave

5th & Central Ave (old Route 66)

6th & I-40

I-40 & Coors

Coors Road look east at overcast mountains

"Hong Kong"

Winter Sunflower

I worked at the office for a couple hours after I got my infusion and injection this morning. I wandered around the yard this afternoon, was greeted by the neighbor's horses, played with Puck, started up the truck and let it run for awhile, photographed some odds and ends, then retreated back inside. I was really temped to take a walk in the bosque, but I'm supposed to stay out of the sun while on antibiotics, and, since I'm still not feeling particularly perky, I decided not to push it. I thought the sunset was disappointing tonight given all the clouds in the sky. My sore throat is almost gone, but I'm still really sniffly. I do seem to be getting a little better every day.

Afternoon Magic

The weather was wonderful this afternoon — too bad I had to look at the sunshine and birds through the windows. I went out first thing this morning for my antibiotic infusion and Nuprogen injection, got gas, picked up a few things at Sunflower Market, came home and piddled around inside the rest of the day. My temperature has been below 99 every time I took it today, so that is good. I'm still pretty tired and having a lot of sinus trouble; otherwise, I think I'm doing pretty well.

Since I didn't go out side the house, other than this morning, I didn't get much opportunity to do photos outdoors today. The bouquet is holding up well and  some of the lilies bloomed, so I got shots of it with the sun shining  through the window on it in the late afternoon. The amaryllis is putting out six blooms at once, and the afternoon sun played nicely with the champagne glasses hanging under the counter.

The Spanish Inquisition

I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition today, but as Monty Python said "Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!"  I was expecting to get my blood drawn, wait for the results, and most likely get a Nuprogen shot and leave. When I was called in for the shot, the nurse took my temperature and it was 99.2. He disappeared and came back about 15 minutes later and told me that the fever stirred the doctors up and that after the shot, I had to go see Willow. There was something slightly ominous in the way he said "Willow".

Willow definitely has a presence. I'd guess she in her 60s. She's been around the block and few times, and if she fights, I doubt she's ever lost one. She is very matter-of-fact and isn't afraid to let you know exactly what she thinks, and she thought that letting me go five days with a low-grade fever with no immune system was the wrong "expletive" thing to do. She examined me, told me that my sore throat was a yeast infection, then started going over the medications I was taking. 

"Do you swallow or spit?" She asked. 

"Excuse me?" I replied. 

"The magic mouthwash? Do you spit it out or swallow it?" she asked with a smirk. 

"Oh! That nasty stuff!" I replied. Then I explained that the instructions on the bottle say to spit, but I'd been swallowing some of it to get to the sores further down my throat.

"From now on you swallow!" she commanded.

"Yes ma'am!" I replied.

For some reason I don't think too many men could get away with that.  She prescribed pills that are normally used to fight vaginal yeast infections. When I went to pick it up in the dispensing clinic, the tech asked if I'd taken the drug before with an inquiring look on his face. I told him no, the doctor had prescribed it because I don't swallow. "I understand." He said "That'll be $14." 

While we were going over my blood counts, we got into a discussion about my hemoglobin and hematocrit being low. She told me there is a difference between HBG and HCT in oncology versus… She paused and waved her hand toward door. 

"Real medicine? Normal medicine?" I suggested. 

She looked at me crosswise and said "Oncology is REAL medicine!" 

"Okay! Normal medicine then!" I replied. 

"No! Oncology is NORMAL…"

I broke in "look at me and look at yourself. Do you believe anyone would think we are normal?"

Silence, then an okay from her. I think we finally decided to call non-oncological medicine, "everyday" medicine. 

She left me in the exam room to consult with the on-call doctor about pulling out the "big guns" on me. She returned and told me she had called my oncologist at home and they decided to pull out the canon instead: they gave me an infusion of antibiotics this afternoon, I go in for antibiotic infusions and Nuprogen shots tomorrow and Sunday, then return again on Monday for blood work and to see the doctor.

With all these different drugs I'm currently taking to fight infections and get my immune system to where it can fight again, I've been having the craziest dreams — but I only woke up a couple of times last night. I was pretty worn out this afternoon after enduring the Spanish Inquisition, and laid down to rest when I got home. Either the ghosts were having a good time or the drugs were still whacking me out, because, not only was I having crazy dreams, but also the bed felt like it was shaking, and then it felt like something was rolling under my legs and feet making them spasm and jump; yet, when looked down at my feet Rosencrantz was laying there perfectly still. I hadn't disturbed him at all.

I got a couple of photos in the early morning sun before I went to the Cancer Center. When I took the photo of the chair in the bright morning light, I wasn't thinking about how well it would illustrate my day — consciously at least.

Freeze dried American roses

Frosty block of wood in early morning light

Guildenstern Help

Having no immune system isn't much fun — being sick with no immune system is the pits. My white counts are making "baby steps" towards recovery, as the doctor put it. They increased from 2.2 yesterday to 2.4 today. 3.7 is the low end of normal for white counts. They are still having to count my nuetrophils by hand. Yesterday they were 0.4 down from 0.5 on Tuesday. 1.6 is the low end of normal for nuetrophils. The doctor thinks I have a virus and my body is using all the white cells and neutrophils my bones are producing quickly from the Nuprgen shots to fight it, making it very hard for my white counts to get ahead. 

While the antibiotics I'm taking will do nothing against a virus, they keep my system in balance and work against potential bacterial infections. I got another Nuprogen 480 injection today, I'll go in tomorrow for blood work, and they will give me another injection if my white counts are still low. Previously, I had reacted very well to the Nuprogen shots and my immune system bounced back very quickly. But my body wasn't fighting a virus when I got the shots previously.

The kitties are doing well. They went out first thing this morning, and came back in on their own before we left for the Cancer Center. It was 19º F on the deck, around 8:00 am, so it was at least 5º F colder in the garden. The cats were very happy to get to go out again when we got back in the early afternoon. It got pretty warm in the house this afternoon from the sun shinning in through the south facing bay windows, which caused my temperature to spike.

I didn't get a chance to do much photography today. I managed to get a couple of shots of the amaryllis in the late afternoon sun, making me think that I was going to have to put up more amaryllis photos; but Guildenstern saved the day by helping Laurie while we were watching videos of tetrahemihexahedrons and the like.

Amaryllis by Laur

 The Nuprogen injection I got yesterday raised my white counts from 2.1 to 2.2, so I got a third injection this morning. The PA increased the dose in today's injection, hoping the larger dose will do a better job this time. She decided I should stay on the antibiotics I got last night, and she scheduled me for more blood work on Friday to see how my immune system is doing then. 

I finally got a printout of the summary of results from blood work from 11/24/2010 to today from the nurse. I noticed that my LDH had increase greatly from the last time it was checked on 11/30/2010. I called my oncologist's nurse and asked if we should be concerned over the high LDH. Dr. Marshall called back, I updated her on what 's  been going on. She explained that an infection can increase LDH, and asked me to come in tomorrow to see her. She also told me to monitor my temperature tonight and if it reaches, 100.4º F, to call the after hours number. She told me she was leaving instructions with the on call doctor to admit me into the hospital. So far my temperature has been under 100º F.

When Laurie got home this afternoon she grabbed my camera and took some photos of the Amaryllis with the late afternoon sun shining on it through the window incase I hadn't taken any photos today. I had done a couple photos of the Amaryllis earlier, but one of her photos came out really well, so it made photo of the day. I also put up one I did was well.

Price Lane

The Nuprogen shot I got yesterday hadn't done much by the time I went in for more blood work this morning.  The nurse was surprised because I have always had huge jumps in both my white counts and neutorphils after I was given Nuprogen. My white counts had gone from 1.5 yesterday to 2.1 today, and they were still hand counting my nuetrophils when I got the Nuprogen injection this morning.

I went to work and felt pretty well most of the day, but I started feeling tired around 4:30 and came home. When I got home, my temperature was 100º F. I took various medications, and laid down for almost an hour. When I got up, my temperature was 102º F, so I called the after hours number and the on call doctor called in a prescription of antibiotics, and I went out to pick them up. That gave me the opportunity to do some photos on the way home from picking up the prescription, since I hadn't taken any photos today. When I got home again my temperature was down to 101º F, and It was 100º F the last time I checked, so I suspect it will be back to normal in the morning.

Fire Station

Driving into the Post Office parking lot

Side entrance to the Post Office

Dusk from Paseo del Norte

I woke up with a very sore throat this morning. Inspecting the inside of my mouth, I could see several canker sores above the tonsils on each side of my throat. I called a nurse at the Cancer Center, and she moved my port flush and blood work to this morning, then I saw a PA. As I suspected, I don't have much of an immune system again. My white counts were 1.5 and the neutrophils where so low the lab tech had to count them by hand, but the tech wasn't finished by the time I left. The numbers were worse today than they were on December 28th. The PA ordered another Nuprogen shot (forces my bones to make more white and red blood cells very quickly), and prescribed a gooey, nasty mouth wash that I need to gargle with 3 times daily to aid healing of the sores and numb my throat, so I can swallow with less pain.  I have to go back in tomorrow morning from more blood work and another Nuprogen shot. They will also have the results of the throat culture tomorrow. The PA doesn't think I have strep, but she said "you never know!"

One of the servers at the office has a drive failing, so we had to move our web-based office automation program to another server. I was testing it tonight and there are a few script errors I need track down tomorrow.  The server now hosting it has an OS three generations newer than the old server and the database is one generation higher than the old, so some of the script errors may be differences in configurations.

Between chasing down problems on the server, going to the Cancer Center, and moving office automation to a new host, I didn't have time to take any photos until driving home. I got a photo from Martin Luther King Blvd. on my way the UNM to pickup Laurie, and then a few shots when we were on Paseo del Norte on the way to an office supply store to pick up school supplies for Laurie and Walmart to get pseudoephedrine to help with congestion and keep post nasal drip in check. The various prescriptions and over-the-counter drugs the PA is having me take are working fairly well reducing the soreness of my throat.

Birds

I'm still not feeling very well today. I stayed inside and photographed birds through the window this morning. The wind was blowing and the sky was gray, so I was surprised when the birds in the trees came out relatively clear.  I'm sure people who know birds around here can identify them.

I made green chile stew this afternoon with Anasazi beans, elk sausage, buffalo and lamb. I cooked several sprigs of thyme with the beans and added smoked paprika to the meat while I fried it. Together with the green chile, onion, garlic and herbs de provence, the stew has a really full flavor. The green chile is a little on the hot side, but I like it hot.

Cat herding was my other main activity today. Often one cat wants out while another cat wants in, so when I open the door I get a quick cat switch as they scurry past one another. The cat switch works without incident with all the cats but Mama Manx and Puck. I opened the door to let Mama Manx out and Puck started to run in, but then he stopped face to face with Mama Manx. These two are a bit like matter and anti-matter coming together. Instead of running by one another, as the rest of the cats do, they circled each other on the threshold, hissing, growling and spitting at one another, until they got up enough momentum for one to be flung inside and the other outside. I don't think they ever touched each other, but they looked like a cartoon of a spinning wheel of fighting cats. Puck teases Mama Manx because she reacts so well; therefore, she is conditioned to react to him defensively whenever he comes near her — he often acts surprised when she spits and hisses at him when he's not trying to torment her.

The afternoon was really nice after the clouds cleared away and the wind died down. Laurie sat outside with the cats in the afternoon sun and read math. The weather looked inviting, but I decided it was best to stay inside, take it easy and work on feeling better.

Name that Flower

I finally had to move the printer to the second shelf on stand to keep Puck off of it.  He figured out how to turn the networking off. I sent something to the printer and the printer queue came up and reported that the printer was off-line. Sure enough, the lights on the ethernet port were not lit, so I started trouble-shooting. I restarted the printer and noticed that the lights on the port flashed for an instant and then went out again. The printer doesn't have a display for configuring, and since I couldn't remember where I filed the manual, if it came with one, I looked up the support page on the internet. It took a few tries  typing "ethernet port," "network", and "demon cat" to find the instructions for turning the network back on.  I didn't even know it could be turned off, so I learned something because of Puck's passion for messing with the printer.

Laurie made a delicious Cherry Chocolate Tart from a recipe in the King Arthur Flour catalog that came in the mail in December. We use King Arthur Flour, and I'm guessing they got our address from Fine Cooking. The catalog has a lot of interesting kitchen gadgets, exotic chocolates, cocoas, and chips for baking, and a lot of recipes for out-of-the ordinary desserts. In keeping with Fine Cooking, the recipes are quite involved.

I'm still fighting a cold — sniffly, congestion, achiness, and fatigue. I haven't had a fever, so I just have to deal with it. I go in on Tuesday for my monthly port flush. They'll also do blood work as part of the prep for my PET scan in February. I'll see on Tuesday the status of my immune system, and whether or not I will need a growth factor shot.

The kitties are all doing well. They were rioting on Friday, but they all got to go out and in all day today. They brought in loads of dirt, got snacks, drank water and headed back out. Puck came in at one point, got up on the table under the window and shook. So much dust came off of him, he looked like Pig Pen in the old Charlie Brown comics. They all seem happy tonight. Three cats are on our bed waiting for us, Guildenstern is laying over Laurie's arm while she's reading math, while Puck is lounging on the couch, and Stretch is curled up on a fleece cushion on one of the chairs. 

The photos today are macro shots of a flower. Does anyone recognize the flower from the photos? 

Sunset view from the ditch

Gerbera Daisy

I'm feeling a little better tonight, but I'm still really sniffly with a slight headache. Yesterday, I planned on leaving work at 3:30 pm and ended up leaving at 7:30 pm. By the time I got home I was feeling so bad and so tired I could hardly think straight.  Ten to fourteen hour days used to be easy, but with a compromised immune system and other aftereffects of chemo, I'm finding long days are really hard to do.

I found some Rwandan Knock em Dead, Genocide blend coffee beens when we where grocery shopping tonight. Anyone who followed my CaringBridge journals may recall that I dribbled the same coffee from the elevator to the first bed in pre-op at Presbyterian Hospital last October, which caused general panic among the staff, forcing them to call out Hazmat to clean it up. Now that I have 3 lbs of it, I need to find more places to dribble it where I can cause general pandaemonium.

We also found a beautiful bouquet of flowers on our shopping trip this afternoon. Laurie noticed that I get a lot of good out of photographing a bouquet of flowers. Flower photos are a nice change from photographing scenery in the middle of winter. Given the fact that I've worked from dawn till after dusk most of the week, I have been forced to take most of my photos in low light or in darkness from the car.

My plan is to rest as much as possible over the weekend to see if I can get rid of these sniffles and start feeling better.

One Way

Sunset 01-19-11

Moonrise 10-20-11

Mirror, Mirror on the Car

 What to do when waiting in UNM parking lots for Laurie? Hmmm! How about take photos? I like to see what I can get from the driver's seat, photographing the changing light, cars and surrounding architecture. Photography from the car has become a theme.

I was awakened at 3:00 AM by a very sour smell that I did not recognize. I laid there half asleep thinking it would go away, but it didn't, so I extracted myself from the cats and got up to investigate.  The minute I got up the smell disappeared. I walked around sniffing the air, but it was gone. I went back to bed and didn't smell it again. Either it was a very realistic dream, one of the cats, or the ghosts were up to something.

I think my immune system is really compromised again. I really feel like I could get sick at any moment. I try hard to work, have a relatively normal life, and not get sick; but I'm feeling like I'm on the verge of losing the battle; therefore, I'm going to bed early. I'll see what tomorrow brings as far as health, and by way of photos.