Basically Done

My next appointment isn't for a month from now: April 23 for a CT Scan (we hope confirming the cancer is gone / stayed gone) and April 24 to get the results.

I'm still on Acyclovir to ward off Chicken Pox, Shingles, and Herpes, and when they found out that my brother's children were getting Chicken Pox the old fashioned way, they upped my dose to 3 pills a day for my visit (to my Mom, who lives nearby) and for the 2 weeks that follow (the incubation period for CP).  I had to only wave to their family, and made my brother wear a mask (and me too) when he visited my Mom.

I'm also still on an antibiotic in case I have lung troubles. I hope to stop that soon--or at least in April (technically, there's no connection between my lung-susceptibility and whether the cancer's stayed away, but it seems like a good time to ask).

10am to 3pm at Beth Israel

It turned out to be no big deal, but it still took from 10am to 3pm to establish that a sudden, urgent cough I developed was probably viral but not the Flu.

I woke at about 5am with a cough and a feeling I couldn't breathe.  My best guess now is that a post-nasal drip had fed a pool of mucus, which, in turn, cut off my breathing in a "sleep apnea" sort of way.  It had also made my throat sore from the bottom of my nose to the upper reaches of my lungs.  Even after a good cough or two it felt hard to breathe--probably the worst "sore lungs" feeling I've had so far, and I know we're on the lookout  for lung ailments.

I called the on-duty doctor and, after reporting no fever, no chills, no aches, nor anything else beyond a cough that was way more powerful than it was productive, he recommeded honey/lemon/tea.

But then the outpatient team came on duty at about 8am, and it turned into a request to come in, get a blood test, nasal swab, and chest x-ray, starting at a 10am appointment.  I drove myself in (for the first time, maybe ever)

While at the hospital, my temperature crept upwards, at first just 99.2. Some of it might have been that I was wearing a mask (which can warm the mouth).  So they couldn't take my temp until I'd chilled, mask off, in a private room for at least 5 minutes.  It kept inching upwards: 99.9, then 100.something, then, tested again with a different thermometer, it was still 99 something.

A nose swab is basically the longest, skinniest Q-tip you can imagine, inserted up your nose for 10 seconds until the urge to sneeze is unbearable.  And then they do it on the other nostrile.

Then it was off for two chest x-rays, just to make sure nothing lurked at the bottom of my lungs (they'd sounded fine via stethescope), and then a kind of long wait for the viral swab and the x-rays to come back. In the end, everything was negative, which doctors seem to be alarmed by (since it means they don't know the cause)

So they sent me home with a 5-day Tamiflu (Oseltamivir Phosphate) prescription, which disrupts the life cycle of Flu A and Flu B.  And I fell into a really long nap (which I must have needed)

A day later, I can still erupt into a violent, semi-productive cough, but mostly my waking hours are symptom free (last night was a big "post nasal drip" night again).

Buz Cut & Bike Ride

I finally shaved off whatever was left of my old hair on Saturday night, using the buzz-cutter I bought at Marshalls to get everything down to 1/8"  Please tell me I look like Captain Picard rather than Dr. Evil.

Today I biked out to Bedford on the Minuteman Trail (a converted railroad).  About 2 hours, about 20 miles, so about 10 miles an hour. It was also good to listen to 2hours of podcasts along the way

I also put my down payment on an evening course in Data Science that will run Tue/Thu evenings from March 20th to May 24th.

Medical: Counts Improving

At my appointment today, my blood platelets were fully in the normal range, and my white cells, at 3.9, were just a tiny bit below normal (which is either 4.0 or 4.5).  My red cells were still below normal, but had also improved since last time.

They also confirmed that I can stop taking my twice a day Pepcid (I'd missed a dose, noticed no heart burn and minimal nausea, and so had skipped all since).  That's also good because we'd like my normal stomach acid to come back--as long as the heart burn stays away (which it has)-- and help me digest better and kill food bacteria.

We're also trying to repopulate my gut bacteria.  Apparently my pneumonia-prevention antibiotic will have minimal effect on my gut, and so now's a good time to add probiotics (cultured/fermented foods) and prebiotics (soluable fiber) to my diet.

Yesterday (Saturday) afforded a chance to press further up the under-construction TriCommunities Greenway path, for about a 10-mile round trip in about 1h12m .

Call it  10mi/1.2hr = 8 mi/hr average, which includes things like dismounting at pedestrian crossings and walking alongside flooded sections where the Aberjona River water level was above the path's level.

For comparison, I used to do my on-street commute of 5.5mi in 30 minutes, averaging 11mi/hr including stop lights

For locals: all of the off-street asphalt for the path has been laid, but it lacks seating or bike racks (there are concrete/brick pads but not furnishings), it lacks paint and signage (where it runs on-street), and it lacks final dirt/drainage (though that would not have saved the under-water riverside sections, which we hope will only flood after nor'easters).  A large earth mover blocked the path where it leads to the former railroad tunnel under Interstate 93 (which is going to be very cool).

7 (Flat) Miles by Bike

Yesterday I biked 7 flat* miles. About 3.3 miles "out," about .4 miles exploring,** and about 3.3 miles home.

Today we have a proper nor'easter, so keeping warm and dry will be my primary effort.

* You know it is a gentle climb because it mostly follows the original route of the Middlesex Canal, which is now the Mystic Valley Parkway.

** Exploring being a euphemism for "lost," or at least not being able to figure out where the under-construction Tri-Community Bikeway was supposed to be, the issue being that they've laid all the off-street asphalt but have not actually opened it, nor have they painted the on-street connections.  I lost the path when it dumped me onto regular streets