Pain, Puppy, and Phlegmy Tissues

Annual Christmas tree hunt on the farm. 

The pain got to be very severe, setting in seethingly Thanksgiving Day night and increasing through that weekend. I talked with my Columbia team, and it was decided to put me on a little pop dose of 50mg Prednisone for a couple of days. If the pain responded to the steroid, it was safe to assume that it was being caused by a tumor flare (a good sign). If the pain did not respond to the increased steroid, it may be lymphoma growth (a bad sign).

With one dose, the seething pain in my back and left side completely dissipated. I’ve  been off the 50mg for a week now and the pain has remained gone. It was likely my body once again getting used to the Revlimid ramping things up after being off of it for a week while my rash cleared.

The perfect tree.

I am pain-free and nearly ache-free as well. However, I have the glassy-eyed, manly voice, and piles of full tissues that are tell-tale signs of a full-blown winter cold. I blame my husband who was sick the week prior for passing it along to me – we share everything, cute, huh? It started with a raging sore throat Sunday morning, moved to head fullness and pressure to crazy sneeze attacks and constant nasal dripping and nose blowing. This morning a rumbly chest cough has joined the scene. ‘Tis the season.

Likely it’s some kind of virus that my body needs to ride out. However, because I’ve been through what I’ve been through, we always have to be ultra cautious regarding my compromised immune system. I am still on a 10mg Prednisone course, which lowers my defenses even more. In I went to see good ‘ol Dr. Dailey at Hartford Hospital. I had to get routine bloodwork done anyway and it was a chance to fill him in on how my treatment is going. The cold actually came with good timing as I already had the appointment scheduled. He hooked me up with a z-pack antibiotic that should kick this along with lots of tea, lemon water, and rest.

Yes, that is crusty fried cheese dangling off the burger.

Before that set in, however, Craig and I had a great weekend together. I freakin’ love the holiday season – bring on the cheesiness, the traditions, the hot dips, the carols. Highlights included cutting down our Christmas tree in fat snowflake snow, the perfect one right in front of where we parked the Jeep making our selection hunt duration a record for us; trying the fried cheese cheeseburgers at a famed Connecticut haunt, Shady Glen; ringing in a friend’s new home; and meeting my parents new PUPPY! (Puppies make me write in capital letters, talk like a baby and melt like a marshmallow.)

His name is Brodie. He’s a four-month-old black lab/shepherd mix who they rescued from a local shelter where he landed after traveling from another shelter in West Virginia. I cuddled him and told him that I love him. His fur is super shiny and soft and his eyes are wide and expressive: true “puppy dog eyes.”

Sammy was sniffing me all up and down when we got home from my parents like a wife checking for lipstick stains on her cheating husband’s collar. My mom and I will get them together for a meet-and-greet this week. I’m sure they’ll be best buds after they butt sniff and paw at each other for a bit. Sammy will quickly teach him her wild ways. Maybe Brodie will finally be the one to teach her how to walk on a leash.

Brodie cuddle time!