Test-O-Palooza

I have not written much lately because I've been swamped by either fatigue
or recovery. Which are slightly different things.

Recovery means that I spent much of last week sitting in an Infusion Chair, getting
a total of three units of platelets and two units of whole blood. This is a huge
huge time suck, even though it's good for me.

I have had bad reactions to platelets in the past, so I have to get three pre-medications
(two antihistamines and a steroid) before they even start. Even with all of the
precautions, I had one day last week where I broke out in a rash, sore throat, swollen
eye, and itchy hands and feet. That meant more antihistamine and more steroids
and then the big wait for at least some of it to go away.

So I did not get much done last week.

This week, I'm just battleing normal fatigue. It tends to hit hard about 2pm, which is
pretty good timing. I am usually able to sneak in a tiny nap before the kids come home.

Except for yesterday.

Yesterday was Big Test Day. I went downtown to have 5 tests and 2 doc appts. All
of this testing is getting me ready for the transplant. The tests were:

Pulminary Function Test
EKG
Chest X-Ray
Bone Marrow Biopsy
Echocaridogram

Plus more blood vials than I have ever seen. They took at least 15 different
vials. Who says blood-letting is dead.

Take a wild guess at which test was the most dreadful...

If you guessed Bone Marrow Biopsy, you would be wrong. That actually went extremely
well. When the nurse pulled up the waistband up my pants, I lay there for a minute and
then said, incredulously, 'I'm done?" Yup. Only a tiny bit of pain.

The worst test was the Pulminary Function Test. It involved nose clips (my nemesis)
and breathing hard in a tiny tube. And holding my breath. I really really hate this
test. It makes me feel like I'm drowning or suffocating. And I had to do it twice.
Because the test detected a "blockage". Which is fancy talk for "You are not using
your lungs to full capacity - maybe you have asthma".

I explained to the nurse that I had chest surgery two years ago to get a biopsy of the
Non-Hodkins Lymphoma, and they collapsed my lung, and then poured talcum powder
in there so my lung would stick to my chest wall, and I thought that just might be the
reason I was not using my lungs to full capacity.

No matter - I still had to have a breathing treatment, which I also hate because
they make me nauseaus. Took the test again. No change. Duh. Which means it
is not asthma, but scar tissue from the chest surgery. I hate when I know the
answer ahead of time.

But the good news is that I am (almost) done with all of my pre-transplant  testing.
I still have to get a mammogram, but will do this next time I'm in Philly.

And I got the best news any woman can get - I need to fatten up before the transplant!
Yahoo!! It was really nice to end the day on a good note like that!