Busy couple of days. High fatigue, and I have been healing from the surgery on my bottom. It still hurts more than is reasonable, and it is taking a while to heal. I can't really sit, and standing up uses that muscle as well, so it is constantly being abused. I have been doing a lot of sleeping.
I had an MRI and a CT scan yesterday, and today I had a PET scan and an hour in a hyperbaric chamber. The MRI is loud and sounds like somewhat tuneful hammers interspersed with slightly tuneful buzzing, not unlike a thermion. The whole thing sounds reminiscent of avant-guarde techno rave music. Including the importance of wearing earplugs.
The hyperbaric chamber is this almost perfectly clear acrylic tube. It gets pressurized to 2 atmospheres of oxygen, which is about 10x the amount of oxygen that we normally get. The idea is that it allows a lot of oxygen to infection sites and most bacteria like low-oxygen environments. Other than having a little trouble getting my ear and sinuses cleared today, being in the chamber was sort of fun and quite relaxing. The only downside is that it is clear, and so I felt a bit like a hamster. There is a nurse that sits next to the chamber, watches the instruments and keeps an eye on me. It is not like a CT scan where if something goes wrong they can instantly stop and pull you out - it takes about 10 minutes to depressurize. You can not take anything into the chamber, so no reading or listening to my books on tape. There is a television that will play DVDs, but I decided to nap as opposed to watching a movie. I have 8 more sessions.
We will start my stem cell treatment in about 2 weeks. I am just waiting for the infection in my butt to get taken care of. It does not have to be completely healed to continue, but it should be more under control than it is now. My neutrophil count is back into the normal range, so I think that I should see some decent improvement over the next 2 weeks. It already feels better today than it did yesterday, so it seems to be moving in the right direction.
I had an MRI and a CT scan yesterday, and today I had a PET scan and an hour in a hyperbaric chamber. The MRI is loud and sounds like somewhat tuneful hammers interspersed with slightly tuneful buzzing, not unlike a thermion. The whole thing sounds reminiscent of avant-guarde techno rave music. Including the importance of wearing earplugs.
The hyperbaric chamber is this almost perfectly clear acrylic tube. It gets pressurized to 2 atmospheres of oxygen, which is about 10x the amount of oxygen that we normally get. The idea is that it allows a lot of oxygen to infection sites and most bacteria like low-oxygen environments. Other than having a little trouble getting my ear and sinuses cleared today, being in the chamber was sort of fun and quite relaxing. The only downside is that it is clear, and so I felt a bit like a hamster. There is a nurse that sits next to the chamber, watches the instruments and keeps an eye on me. It is not like a CT scan where if something goes wrong they can instantly stop and pull you out - it takes about 10 minutes to depressurize. You can not take anything into the chamber, so no reading or listening to my books on tape. There is a television that will play DVDs, but I decided to nap as opposed to watching a movie. I have 8 more sessions.
We will start my stem cell treatment in about 2 weeks. I am just waiting for the infection in my butt to get taken care of. It does not have to be completely healed to continue, but it should be more under control than it is now. My neutrophil count is back into the normal range, so I think that I should see some decent improvement over the next 2 weeks. It already feels better today than it did yesterday, so it seems to be moving in the right direction.
It is SO good to hear (read) your voice. Glad you are feeling the energy come back.
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