Surviving the long weekend

The nights are the worst. When the sun goes down,  the conversations end, and the house goes quiet, the pruritis demon raises its ugly head. The body rash of lymphoma can be unremitting and unresponsive to conventional treatments. A few nights ago, it took 4 atarax and 3 imovane before the itch let up enough to fall asleep. I used so much cortisone cream that my hands and feet started to pulsate in protest. Doctors are the worst patients, as we take liberties with medications that would normally be crazy, but we feel we can get away with because we tell ourselves we understand the drugs.

One of my cycling friends came over today, and as warned, was put to work helping me complete a small rec room project. It gave us a chance to catch up. My parents came over and brought a great meal, which I enjoyed. Appetite and weight intact!

I called the oncologist on call this evening about the unrelenting itch, and he suggested doubling the prednisone to 100 mg, and increasing the sleep medicine, but warned me that the itch would not go away until the cancer did the same. Fortunately, I see my cancer specialist tomorrow and hope to start therapy soon after. It has been a challenging long weekend, but it is almost over, thanks to a bit of help from my friends....