In the last couple of weeks I've noticed myself feeling much more tired and colder than normal. At first I figured it was me just being tired of 2020, Covid-19, and the shorter/colder days, as I'm sure many of you can relate. But in my last round of chemo (on December 1), labs taken prior to the chemo showed my Hemoglobin hit an all new low of 9.5 gm/dL. A normal reading for men starts at 14.0 gm/dL (according to Cleveland Clinic). Previously my results sometimes ran slightly low (as in the high 12 - 13 range), but this represents a significant drop.
And of course for every symptom there are new tests that can and must be run. In this case, it's an Upper Endoscopy combined with Colonoscopy. Oh yeah! I was overdue for that anyways (really)! I am so looking forward to spending an evening in the bathroom followed by an outpatient procedure (yes, pun always intended). I do have a bit of a reprieve though before this happens. Apparently everyone wants to spend their flex dollars on doing this at the end of year. So, this means they are booked well into January. My appointment is scheduled for Friday, January 22, 2021, in the morning.
Finally, I wanted to mention that I went back and forth in my mind as to whether or not I should even do this post. As you probably know, I don't often whine and complain (though wine and celebrate, yes). But given that how I feel is apparently tied to a physical/medical issue, I opted to share. My mission from the beginning of this blog (which is now well over 12 years old!) has been to show what really happens to people when they go through cancer treatment. No sugar coating here, just the raw, unvarnished truth. For the last 15 months, I've had nothing whatsoever to report other than things were remaining "stable". This latest issue is hopefully temporary and not the result of something more serious.
Also pending for January is a new set of scans, but that date and type of scan has yet to be selected.
In case you don't hear from me prior to the January "festivities", I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a blessed New Year!
