Pancakes, Yumm

That's right, pancakes this morning, pretty good! I just wanted to write a short post to correct something I said last post. The doctors do not want my WBC count to steadily increase, they expect it to get to where it is and then fluctuate but with a long-term upward trend. I found this out yesterday when my WBC dropped from 2.9 to 2.7 and started asking more questions. They will only get concerned if it trends downward. I am now on every other day visits to the Cancer Center (henceforth ITA - Infusion Treatment Area), weekends off. Cool.

GOt a package in the mail from Yawkey Way, a Red Sox calendar and program, and a little packet of Fenway dirt. I tried to cut up the dirt and snort some, for power, but it is decomposed granite and doesn't cut well. Thanks to Matt and Marian for pulling this off for me, too bad we couldn't win the ALDS. Looks like the new rule is only 1 championship per year for Boston teams, and the Celtics get '08.

My great friend Mike B has agreed to be my caregiver next weekend, so Dana can go home to SLO and see Mike and John, be home, and especially to see Mikey in a couple of plays he is, 'Wind in the Willows' and 'The Lottery', an odd combo but that's high school theater. So that will be great; she needs a break.

Pancakes this morning reminded me how damaged my nose is, my sense of smell and taste are shot. I could taste the syrup but not really the pancakes. I can taste sweet and salt, but barely. Gatorade is tart. Anyway, I was thinking of this in bed last night and pondering on it, and I wanted to relate a story, but Dana says it is too graphic, or at least needs a warning, so here is your warning: the following is a graphic story of nose clearing.

In the midst of hell, about Day 11 or 12, when my lips were those big masses of black, my nose was also a mass of black. Lying in bed trying to breathe through the mucus-laden mouth or the clogged nose was difficult. I started testing opening my nostrils wider with my fingers and discovered the tunnels were clear, I just had these clots covering the openings. The nurses all had told me not to blow my nose or I might start a nosebleed, and that wouldn't be good with no platelets. But they didn't say I couldn't undergo mining operations and clear the nasal passages.

So I carefully and meticulously removed the clots covering my nasal openings, stopped the minor resultant bleeding, and all seemed well except my nose kept collapsing on itself, the way a camel's does, closing the opening. I thought of BreatheRight Nasal Strips, and took some tape and jury-rigged my nose to stay open. Much to my delight, that lasted until the next afternoon. We bought some Nasal Strips and I started clearing my nose and using those every night, guaranteeing free air passage through at least one passage. They worked great, except for distorting my nose by noon the next day. I think this helped me heal faster.

I also discovered how beautiful everyone's eyes are. We spend very little time looking deep or long at someone's eyes, they are always flitting about, and we attach too much social significance to staring into someone's eyes. When nurses are working on your IV lines, they are often right near your face, and you can study their eyes, which I sometimes did. I discovered such a variety of colors, blues, yellows, brown, greens, all mesmerizing. Dana's blue eyes are like diamonds, with sparkling gold flecks throughout, beautiful. I bet staring into her eyes is what has me mesmerized, with her melodic voice.