Week 18

My hematocrit keeps climbing, but I've yet to feel the effects. I'm still huffing and puffing my way through the day. My supervisor at the medical center found me some office space to work from when I need to, so I can just take the bus directly there and I don't have to worry about the shuttle. What I didn't take into account is that the street level is below the hospital entrance, so I have to do a bit of climbing. Yesterday I went up the stairs kind of fast because it was raining. When I got to the top, I had to sit down for about 5 minutes to get my breath back. By the time I got to the office area, I would get out of breath just walking across the office. I ended up going home at 12:30 and spending the rest of the day napping an in bed with my new humidifier on.

It probably didn't help that on Saturday, I attempted shopping. It did not go well. By the time I was at the checkout, it was hard to stand up. Thankfully my sister was with me and she carried all my groceries and even put the cold stuff in the fridge.

On Sunday I managed to accomplish something that has needed to be done for awhile, but I probably should not have done it alone.. that was to turn my mattress and change the sheets on the bed. I also had to "de-hair" my comforter, for all the good it did me:



It's great to have clean sheets, but I really paid for it on Monday and even today a little bit.

Besides my almost constant out-of-breath state, there are other annoying things going on:

I'm definitely starting to feel the numbness in my hands. It's very difficult for me to write. They hurt and feel tight and weird. I'm already on gabapentin for hot flashes and my guess is that after I talk to my doctor, I'll be seriously increasing the dosage.

It's very sad that when I blow my nose, I don't even notice anymore that it's all basically blood clots. My mucous membranes are so dry in my mouth and nose! My expensive ultrasonic humidifier with a silver strip to keep the bacteria at bay arrived on Friday and I think it's starting to help a little at night.. I'm not so stuffed up.

My fingernails. Probably the grossest thing so far... both my thumb nails are thoroughly discolored and now have fluid between the nail and the nailbed. They are smelly and gross. I have to soak them in this astringent mix a couple times a day. The nail on my right thumb is loose all the way to the quick (eewww) and on Friday, someone is going to cut it all the way back (yikes!). Today I cut it about halfway up, just to where the nailbed starts getting raw. I have to wear a band-aid all the time so it doesn't catch on anything. Plus, they hurt because the nails are flattening out. My other fingernails are in various stages, but aren't even close to as bad as my thumb nails. My toenails are starting to hurt, and I'm sure I'll be going through this with my feet soon. Hooray.

I'm 3/4 of the way through. 6 more weeks. I can hardly stand it.