I went to Little Rock yesterday to recheck labs and get more fluids. They told me when I walked in that my calcium did NOT go down on Wed's lab...it was 12.4. SO...there were new plans. I would get TWO bags of fluids, which means 4 hours not 2 hours. Also, my doctor wanted me to start prednisone (steroids) and a nose spray...both for the purpose of getting the calcium out of my blood.
How do I spell the frustrating yell that is kind of like Charlie Brown's yell? AAAHHHHH!!! (Didn't learn that in my vocab words back at LOHS. A really useful word). :-) I was disappointed when I heard the news...the calcium was still at 12. The good news was that my blood pressure had gone up some to 98 over 68, which was still low, but better since Wednesday. My CBC numbers were all in the normal range, which was great. But the calcium needed to come down.
Remember I said I adjust to new plans slowly? It. is. true. Yep :-)
SO...I heard the new plan, got teary, asked questions and then sat down for a 4 hour saline fluid festival. :-) I eventually settled into my chair and got out my bag of "things to do".
My sweet sister-in-law who brought me to the appointment, and who adjusts faster to these things than I do, said "no problem...there's plenty of shopping for me to do here" and rolled with the new plan in no time at all. :-) (So sweet.) She came back to pick me up and we promptly went to Blue Coast Burrito, where I got a fish taco...and ate it ALL! Woohoo. ( I never know...it just sounded good and then hit the spot).
SO...bottom line..the discouraging part was it added 2 more meds to my long list that I'm already taking everyday. I am trying to keep optimistic, but I will be honest and say please pray for my emotions to stay full of hope in Jesus. I feel so encouraged knowing SO many are praying. I really do think about that throughout each day all the time.
Here's the prayer list: for my emotions to stay up, calcium down, blood pressure up, appetite up. :-) Up, down. And really...you can ignore my lists and just listen to what the Holy Spirit tells you. That's the better way.
I continue to praise God for the stable, constant Presence that He is in the middle of the roller coaster life. God's Presence is with each person in our family. He is faithfully taking care of Tom, Jesse, Bets, James and Mary and me. I am SO thankful for that!!! YAY GOD!!!
I go back Monday for all these lab numbers to be rechecked. Early afternoon appt.
One friend said "we want to pray Lisa...keep giving us our 'marching orders' so we can battle for you." Wow. I am thankful for all of your love and bold prayers.
O God,
Thank You for the small victories...which really aren't small. They are all important. Please, sustain and pour Your strength into my heart and mind and body. "I need You every hour, Most Holy One." I love You.
Your daughter,
Lisa
4 comments:
Praying for you Lisa. Glad your blood pressure is up. That has got to be making you feel a bit perkier!
tlopLisa,
All this talk of levels going up and down reminded me of this verse:
"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13
This is my prayer for you, and I know you will not have to wait until Monday to see the results. You already overflow with his hope. I will keep praying for that blood pressure and calcium levels, too!
Lisa, I hate those unexpected adjustments, too. I am a planner to the T. I make PLANS to be spontaneous, lol. "Be spontaneous on Friday from 2-4 p.m." So I can totally relate to your difficulty in making that mental shift when plans suddenly change.
Sorry to hear the calcium levels did not change. :( But happy to hear about the blood pressure getting better. You know, I'm no nurse, but 98/68 doesn't seem THAT low--mine is often 108/72 or 108/80 and they say "You're fine." So I think you definitely have one foot in the "You're fine" door as far as the BP goes. Yay!
Well, I guess we are not just L5 twinsies, we are Prednisone twinsies. I guess I had forgotten you were on that before. I was on 60mg/day(!!) for a few weeks to see if it would help my T. I will be praying this next round helps bring your calcium levels down...!
Here are some words you might want to use besides the (very useful) AHHHH! I find these to be quite helpful and perfectly descriptive of how I am feeling at certain times:
- Argh!!!
- ARGHS!!! (double of "Argh!")
- Gah!!
- Ack!!
- Oy!!
- Plah! (Kind of like "Crud!")
- Blech!!
Hope you don't need to use these, but if you do, you now have the repertoire available to you. :)
LOVE YOU AND PRAYING FOR YOU DAILY!!
In Him,
Julie
Still praying for you neighbor. I saw something on Emily Burley's CaringBridge page today that I really liked: "In the end, it will all be OK. If it isn't OK, it isn't the end. ". Thank you God that we have assurance that when we lose battles, we know who wins the war. And we know we will have a healed body. Wendy Neill
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