A Little Fresh Blood

Went in yesterday to start my next full cycle of Chemo, only to discover that even after a week's respite my blood counts were WAY too low; so instead of a five hour infusion of chemicals, I ended up back at Maine Medical again (this time thankfully on the "Short Stay" unit) for a six hour transfusion. I was matched and typed, then received two units of blood before being sent home with another week's reprieve.

I've already decided that my donor must have been from another time zone, since I slept in this morning until 11;17, although only after first waking up around 4:30 AM and taking a shower. Fell back to sleep while sitting on my bed trying to get dressed; decided I'd "rest my eyes" for just a moment before trying a second time to get my basketball shorts on, and next thing I know it's nearly noon! So I suppose my transfusion could have also come from a teenager. I mean, what other living creature sleeps until noon and dresses almost entirely in college t-shirts, laceless high-top leather sneakers, and basketball shorts?

So far it seems like a lot of this month has been taken up with the ongoing struggle to find an effective level of pain relief that allows me a meaningful amount of mobility in the world, but still leaves me lucid enough to read and write and communicate effectively without feeling (and sounding) like a zoned-out space-cadet all the time. And that's just the start of it. But I won't go into all the agonizing detail. Let's just say that I've been awake now for four hours, and I'm already ready to take another nap.................