Making a Way in the Wilderness

I was elated to learn from the day nurse that my blood test results (peak anti-factor Xa level) are right in the middle of the target range. So that means I can go home today and continue taking Lovenox! Since this is my third hospital discharge, I'm preparing myself for the process to take hours. If I get out before lunch, I'll be pleasantly surprised. There's a noon home game tomorrow, so getting out before the crazy Friday traffic starts would be nice.  For those who don't live here, State College becomes the third largest city in PA on football weekends. The hospital is along one of the main roads that becomes very congested. This is why, when Lily was a week overdue and my water had broken, we waited until the third quarter of the Indiana game (i.e., no traffic) to drive to the hospital.  Thanks so much to friends who visited yesterday and brought or sent flowers, socks, treats, and trashy magazines. I have to confess I didn't even know Harry and Olivia were a ...

The attending physician and my oncologist consulted and came up with a treatment plan to prevent more clots. While I am in the hospital, I will go on a higher dose of Lovenox (3 doses, 12 hours apart). I was taking Lovenox after being discharged from the Reston hospital and ended up in the ER 5 days later with another clot, but the doctors think the higher dose will be more effective. After the third dose, they will test my blood for anti-factor Xa. Although it sounds like a weapon used by a Marvel superhero, it is a way to measure blood coagulation. If the results are good, then I can go home on Friday and continue taking Lovenox. If not, then we go back to the drawing board. I got a big piece of good news yesterday. In addition to the reduced lung inflammation, the radiologist noted that the cancerous nodules are a bit smaller. These are early signs that Tagrisso seems to be working! I felt much better after hearing this news and having a plan in place. Nonetheless, it is hard to go ...

I am back at Mt. Nittany hospital. :( On Monday my heart rate was over 100 at rest so I went to the ER to get checked out. They thought it might be dehydration, pumped me with fluids, and sent me home. However, on Monday and Tuesday I also needed more oxygen while I was walking and took my last dose of Prednisone on Saturday, which I thought could be a factor. I called my oncologist yesterday to see what I should do, and she wanted me to get a CT scan within the next few days. The quickest way to do this is to go the ER. Otherwise it could have been days or weeks to get insurance authorization, schedule it, etc.  The CT scan shows less lung inflammation, which is good. But it also shows that the clot on my right lung has gotten slightly larger, whereas the clots on the left are gone or nearly gone. So the doctor ordered an ultrasound to check for clots in my legs. Sure enough, the clot on my right leg is not going away (it seems to have migrated from my calf to behind my knee). The...

We made our second pilgrimage to Pittsburgh yesterday, this time with sunny weather. On the way we listened to "Wrestling with the Faith We Love" (Kate Bowler's interview with Randall Balmer about evangelicalism) and a This American Life episode about students from a poor school and a rich school just 3 miles apart. This brought back fond memories of our road trips before Lily was born, when we would binge TAL episodes, including our  favorite , Paint by Numbers. My appointment wasn't until 2, but Leland had an important Faculty Senate meeting on Zoom at noon. Our friends David and Denise came to the rescue, setting us up with work space and lunch at their beautiful new home less than 2 miles from the Hillman Center. After a short walk through the neighborhood admiring the architecture and stunning stained glass windows, Leland and I migrated to separate areas of the house to do our respective work. It is wonderful to have friends in Pittsburgh that we can rely on. ...

I got a surprise package from Big Pharma today. Last week I filled my first US prescription for Tagrisso, so AstraZeneca sent me a "starter pack."  If I didn't have insurance, a month's supply of Tagrisso would cost over $15,000. With Aetna, I'm paying $50. There's plenty to hate about Big Pharma (Exhibit A:  Purdue Pharma  and Sackler family), but I am thankful for scientific advances that have made targeted cancer therapy possible. I wish these therapies were available for everyone who needs them, not just the insured.  

I met with my local pulmonologist, Dr. Vilensky, yesterday. He noted that Dr. Villaruz (my oncologist) didn’t think there was an appreciable difference between my two CT scans (pre-cancer treatment vs. post-treatment a couple weeks ago in the ICU). Dr. Vilensky thinks the latter scan shows more fibrotic tissue and cystic changes (translation: bad stuff), which leads him to believe that Tagrisso could be the culprit. However, he recognizes that I had COVID, pulmonary embolisms, and cancer, so it's impossible to disentangle what contributed to these changes. I will have a CT scan in about 7 weeks and that will help determine whether I can stay on Tagrisso.  It is difficult not knowing how long I will need supplemental oxygen when I am up and about. Dr. Vilensky said it could take 6-8 weeks or more before I wean off. Blood clots take a long time to dissolve. I'm not a patient person, but I don't have a choice. I have to wait. I am trying to focus on my progress. For example, l...