Was at the CTC for quite a while. Leg pain got worse. Was given a morphine push which knocked the edge off but did not eliminate the pain. It would wane then come back. I was a puddle, totally overcome with the pain at times, and kept trying to find a position in one of the recliners where I could ease up the pain enough to breathe without panting. My BP was up because of the pain too which gave me a headache, while on morphine no less. Ugly afternoon.

I think they took about a dozen tubes of blood for tests. Beyond a CBC and Electrolyte check, they're doing broad sweeps to see the condition of my immune system (since I'm still having fevers), arthritis indicators, inflammation flags, sed rate, etc. I lost track of all the test codes they were tossing about.

Also scheduling a bone scan, entire skeleton. Never had that before but I gather it's akin to a CT scan or MRI. Something is definitely out of whack and it's whacking me pretty hard. If we get no useful info from the blood tests and/or bone scan, the plan is to leave out the oxaliplatin on my next treatment (7/25) and just do the 5FU, a little process of elimination test. My previous experience with 5FU didn't give me these troubles. If oxaliplatin turns out to be the culprit, we'll finish off my last three treatments without it. The agony is outweighing the possible benefit.

Because I'd had the morphine only about two hours before I was released for the day, I called spouse to come fetch me home. I was quite lucid, but worn out and afraid I might fall asleep or pass out on the highway if I drove.

Got a new Rx for oxycodone and have pretty much been given permission to take as much as I need to survive the pain until we find the root cause of all this mess.

Expanding my repertoire. Hip pain now radiating down the backs of both legs, thighs to ankles. Lortabs concurrent with Advils are handling the hips, but doing nothing for the legs. Cannot stand or walk for more than a few minutes. The legs ache while sitting too unless I pull my knees up tight, usually with heating pad wedged between thighs and calves.

Like I said, bundle of shifting side effects. Just when I think I can manage what I have, a new challenge arises. I have to go to the CTC to get my port deaccessed today, so I'll have a chat about this new thing with them while at it. Could be a long trip there and back. Haven't tried sitting in the car with this new deal. Need a new script for hydrocodone or oxycodone too (ala Lortab), using it up faster since I should only use the Advil now when I am desperate (which was most of yesterday and so far today). I really don't like using the Lortabs. I tend to fall in and out of sleep alot. Can't even enjoy the painlessness.

Am I having fun yet? I swear, no cancer left, just chemo eating me up. Wish I could prove it and quit.

Three more. Just three more. Only three more.

I woke up feeling great around 2am. hahahaha That's funny. But hey, I'll take it!

6:50pm, chills started. Escalated so fast, it was difficult to take temp and ferret out some Tylenol. Temp was only 99.7 but obviously shooting up fast because the ordinary fevers don't make themselves known until 100+ with only mild dizziness. Got the Tylenol down. Was short of breath, panting, because the shivers go all through me and all the way out to hands and feet. Coughing on purpose seemed to help me catch more air. Quaked for about another 20 mins before it started to subside and I immediately fell asleep, pretty much from exhaustion. Woke up at 8:03pm due to spouse calling to say he was on his way out of LC and did I need anything. I was hot and sweating, thus fever had broken. Temp was 101.9 and falling slowly as usual, ala still 100.5 at 8:55pm.

Mixed results, ie, good and bad appointment.

Electrolytes are fine except for a bit low on total proteins especially albumin. Recommendation includes more red meat! which suits the hell outta me. I love beef. Bringing up my albumin count can help boost or at least maintain my RBCs.

Hip Pain is back to 'unknown origin'. Highly annoying. The bone marrow to RBC theory fades as time elapses since last shot to boost that production. Doctor actually suggested today that maybe I've developed arthritis. I think, and said, this is a bullshit theory. I suddenly developed severe arthritis pain coincidental to the chemo? Yeah, sure, riiiight. I am not buying it.

Of all my symptoms, this is the one that troubles me most. I am sometimes nearly immobilized, and I am certainly limited all the time. The pain is mitigated with pain relievers, but never completely gone. I am annoyed with the problem and no real firm diagnosis nor resolution. The doctor also backed off the Advil/ibuprofen as a pain reliever, concerned that it may promote GI bleeding and impede platelet function, if not counts. She recommended using the Lortab only.

I cannot back off the Advil. As it is, I am now having to boost that with the Lortab5 sometimes and I don't want to get into heavy Lortab use as hydrocodone can be addictive plus it makes me groggy. Overall, this issue is a mongolian clusterfuck. For myself and my quality of life, I have to do what I have to do to get as much function as possible, despite today's twisted backtracking by the 'medical professional'.

CT Scan Results were glowing, if unhelpful for diagnosis, so that's both good and bad. My lungs are clear, as well as liver, spleen, pancreas and adrenal glands. I have a gallstone, which I knew about before. Kidneys are symmetrical with no evidence of any abnormalities. No evidence of abdominal abcess, no pelvic mass or adenopathy. Appendix okay even. Rules out a lot - good. Offers no clues - bad.

RBCs way up as HGB went from 7 to 11.2 after 4 units of PRBCs. Obviously good. I haven't had the enrgy boost I expected but then I have the hips sucking a lot of energy I might have otherwise.

Since my RBCs/HGB was good, I got to take Chemo #5!! Exceedingly good news. The delay being only two days allows me to keep my schedule intact. Only 3 more threatments to go. #6 scheduled for 7/25. --- Also got my Calcium and Magnesium to mitigate Oxaliplatin's cold effects. YAY

Added note: I forgot to take the anti-nausea meds on Friday night but suffered no nausea any way. YAY Took them early Saturday AM as soon as I rembembered, just in case, but it seems that's one side effect I get to skip.

No appointments today. First and only free day this week. I took it very very slowly. Vegged in a major way. Only obligation was to eat properly and keep up with the Advil. Two bothersome things though:

1) Advil wasn't doing it all, both hips were misbehaving badly and in fact the pain was radiating down both legs. So, by evening, I had to take a Lortab5/hydrocodone with the Advil to survive it.

2) Was vegging in front of the TV after the pain relief really kicked in and fell asleep. Sometime later I woke up with the chills, very bad case. Thankfully Spouse was here and heard me groaning and breathing rough over it as my fever shot up. Just like last Friday, I was too cold and shaking too hard to even get my medicine off the end table right beside me. Spouse helped with that and as soon as the Tylenol started to slow down the shakes, I slept again. Woke up an hour later, perfectly still and calm, and sweating off the fever. Took my temp with Spouse's help before the Tylenol(102.2) then again after I woke up in a sweat (102.8). No idea how high my temp got before the fever broke.

Yes, all of the above will be reported during my appointment at the CTC tomorrow. Damn but I want answers and I want these things to stop and I don't want answers that further complicate my condition. I want to be free, really free, of all this crap.

Got the 2 PRBC units on Tues which brought my RBC 7 count up to 8.6. Was told the two units were fairly small. I had no idea the size of PRBC units was variable. Doctor not satisfied with 8.6 and ordered 2 more units today. Won't get the count until Friday but the infusion nurse said today's unit volumes were larger and should bring me up at least 1 point each, so my count should be near 11, the normal minimum.

Long day today: Had to pick up contrast for the CT scans at 8:30am and start drinking it right away. Had appt at CTC at 9am. Discussed everything but no meaningful conclusions until the CT scans are reviewed, if then. Had CT scans at 11am. Arrived at infusuion lab around noon. Was there until almost 7pm.

If the CT scans don't solve the puzzle, then we'll go with a colonoscopy. The only possibility for a root cause that was brought up, as an example, is perhaps an ulceration or similar having developed as my stricture expanded. Definitely lower GI bleeding, which did show up in one of those previous tests but no one told me at that time. However, I've had an incident since, which confirmed that the previous indication of blood loss was more than a fluke.

My insurance company was at first reluctant to authorize the CT scans. However, after the incident, the CTC folks pushed harder, having more proof of necessity, and the insurance company acquiesced just in time for me to get over to the imaging place. Good thing. No way I could afford the CT scans out of pocket. (Also good because it meant I didn't drink that stuff for no reason. :)

Going to CTC on Friday, tentatively scheduled for treatment #5, as mentioned. Still hoping it happens. Depends on CT scans mostly.

In brief... nevermind, I'm terrible at 'brief'. I'll post the highlights (not necessarily high points.) This post just isn't going to be as smoooove as my usual prose.

- Spouse talked me into calling the CTC Friday afternoon, after the chills-while-sleeping event. That with the others made the fever/chills events seemed to be increasing in frequency and severity. Definitely not good and still mysterious as to cause. The CTC made an appoinment for me for Monday afternoon to investigate further without the disraction of a chemo treatment.

- THANKFULLY, I felt really good all day Saturday (when Mom & Dad arrived) and Sunday when we went to old Mesilla so I could show them a taste of this region's history (lots of adobe houses and an old church preserved from the 1800's). We had lunch at a really cool restaurant there, full of eclectic antique decor, each of the many rooms being totally unique, and serving good food, then we did a once-around in the little tourist/shopping Plaza even in 100 degree weather. After that, Mom & Dad (whom you shall remember are Walmart King and Queen ;) went grocery shopping with me. Very helpful. I would bet money that Mom & Dad's presence not only made me happy in a literal sense but lent me energy on a spirit level. *nod* They're just so positive and energetic, it's hard not to be bouyed by them.

- Thankfully, I only had a fever (sans chills) Saturday evening and one on Sunday evening. Ironically, I had one with the chills on Monday just a couple of hours before my appointment. I was shivering uncontrollably and Dad was sweating. I told him we needed to work out some kind of exchange. :)

- Mom & Dad also went with me for my Monday appointment at the CTC. It was cool to be able to show them the chemo suite where I spend every other Wednesday afternoon. Also cool to introduce them to my chemo nurses/techs and visa versa.

And now for the... um... whatever. Recall that my RBC count had fallen to 8, postponing chemo treatment #4 and prompting an IV megadose of iron. The next week, it was up to 9+ which still isn't at minimum on the normal range (11-14), but was deemed okay to do #4.

Monday, it was 7... despite a shot during the last visit to boost my marrow's RBC production, despite my hips torturing me which is now presumed to be caused by the increased production and requiring over-the-top use of ibuprofen, despite the fact that I have felt much better than the ass-dragging exhaustion I felt when the count was 8, fevers with chills being the only fly in that ointment as that is very draining.

So from Monday's discussions and blood workup...
- the concensus was that the hip pain is surely all about bone marrow making RBCs
- I got a shot to increase production of white blood cells (WBC) even though that count is okay, but if I am fighting some infection I could use that boost
- the 7 count obviously means I am headed in the wrong direction, despite all efforts to the contrary, and everyone at the CTC seemed surprised that I am ambulatory; lower than 7 we did not discuss specifically but I could tell it gets bad, very bad
- the current guess on the RBC drop is that I'm losing blood, probably through my gastric system and it's being eliminated with solid waste (that's as subtle as I could put it and imo it's still TMI). It doesn't make sense to me because I do not see evidence of that but the doctor said I might not if it's a fairly gradual albeit continuous thing

** going for a tranfusion today to get some more blood in me, 2 units I think **
** going for CT scans tomorrow, with contrast (ie, drinking yucky stuff to make ye olde digestive system show up better) to see if we can determine if/where I might have a trouble spot that may be bleeding or may be an infection or some other clue; having scans of chest, abdomen and pelvis to pretty much cover my whole bod **

- Obviously, because of the 7 count, another chemo treatment (#5) is postponed. With lots of luck (if transfusion elevates RBCs to maybe 9 or better) I might be allowed to do #5 on Friday, thus preventing the further shuffling of my ultimate schedule.
- The shuffling of the schedule, ie extending it, disturbs me on two fronts: taking longer to finish up this last (damned well better be the last!) phase of deleting the cancer, and 2) Grandma's reunion on Labor day weekend. I was already pushing it to make a trip home for that --- and being well enough to enjoy it --- but each chemo postponement pushes me closer to making that trip imprudent or in fact impossible.

I am highly annoyed. I certainly did not expect nor sign up for these complications. In some ways it harkens back to when I was so frustrated trying to get all the complications and delays out of the way so I could get the takedown done and start this chemo. grrrr

Have I mentioned that I'm impatient? Yeah, I thought so.

Note: New term - FUO - Fever of Unknown Origin... But those letters are just too juicy. I'm sure I'll eventually come up with something more...um... meaningful. *grin*

I'm beginning to think there's no cancer left (obviously a good thing) so the chemo has nothing to attack but ME! sheesh

Yes, it's ultimately a great thing, but for four more 'insurance' treatments, it's not going to be a fun thing. There's no way to prove it's unnecessary, so... I'll do it, just to make sure. ugh

Mom and Dad are coming! Mom and Dad are coming! Mom called on Friday and said they'd be here this afternoon or evening!! I am excited and thrilled and can't wait to see them, to be with them. YAY!! It's the perfect time for their visit. Despite my complaints, this is the 2nd week post-chemo treatment, so this is the best I'm going to feel prior to my next treatment on Wed 7/11.

<rant mode on>
Dammit, Double Dammit, Triple Freakin Dammit!
The gdmfsobrb fevers are back. They've been fairly low grade over the last 3-4 days but last evening and then again today --- in the middle of sleep, no less! --- I got the uncontrollable chills again. I feel like a freakin shivering Chihuahua when that's going on and my temp is quickly shooting up to something stupid before I can even get some Tylenol down to break it.

Today I got up very early and at 10am I decided to go back down for more sleep. I didn't wake up until 3pm, which is good, but in the middle of that 5hrs somewhere I recall being half-awakened by the shivers. They were so bad that I was too cold and too jittery to get up and take anything or even fetch my thermometer to see how high my temp was. All I could do was curl up more tightly in my blanket and hope the warmth would break the fever. It did, since I woke up in a sweat.

The folks at CTC and I cannot figure out what this is. We're chasing but catching nothing. There are NO other symptoms, absolutely nothing to hint at what the root cause of the fevers might be. No infection showing up in any of my blood work or cultures, no burning or itching or painful anything, no rash or hives or whatever. Nothing. Absofreakinlutely nothing.

It's highly annoying and not at all good for someone with a compromised immune system to possibly/apparently have some mysterious whatever running around in the body. Besides, when I have these episodes, they completely wear me out (even more than usual). My body goes through a monster temperature change in a very short period of time and it's like my whole system is involved. I get zapped and when it's over I am toast... okay, soggy toast.

DAMMIT
<rant mode off>

In other news (and because humor is of course one of my coping mechanisms)... I have to stop laying my cell phone down to the right of my laptop. I keep trying to use it as a mouse. Oddly enough, it has no effect on the cursor on screen. hehe

Know what? Now, you're gonna think I'm crazy, but... I'd rather lose my hair than my fingernails. They're shredded. I'm using emory boards in bulk to file off the chips and keep them down to the exact ends of my fingertips. They're growing, but what's growing out at the end right now is thin, tears easily, and chips or splits over nothing.

It's not really vanity. I mean, yeah, I look at my hands a lot. I have very nice hands, actually, with or without long nails. They're down right beautiful when my nails are long, 50 yrs old or not. But the real bother right now is that I can't use my nails. They're soft or just disintegrate, when I'm accustomed to them being strong and useful for cutting plastic off packages, digging under paper carton edges like frozen food boxes, etc. I use them, or used to use them, a lot! I even type with the ends of my fingernails when they're long.

When I first cut all my nails back, my poor previously protected soft tips were sore. That's over now, but my fingertips also contain the nerve endings that are so sensitive to cold because of the chemo. If I had my long nails, strong like they usually are, I could handle stuff with them and the cold wouldn't get to the skin on my fingertips so much.

I miss my fingernails, dangit.

Still got my hair though, which is nice, of course. Honestly I'd trade, but I'd kinda rather not lose both. hehe I'd still be okay with it if I did, I'm just sayin'...

Mom & Dad called from the road today. They were actually pretty close, well, relatively. They're in Arizona and on their way north to Las Vegas. Mom said they'd driven 2600 miles so far on their "Western Tour 2007" :)

They're making squat calls, like visiting with my brother and his wife in Kansas City. Otherwise, they're doing the whole touristy thing, ala Devil's Tower, Mount Rushmore, Yellowstone and Old Faithful, Wall Drugs, the Corn Palace, the Painted Desert. They have more on the list, like the Grand Canyon.

They've seen it all before. We had a two-week family vacation to most of that when I was 10. However, much of it is just so fantastic, it's well worth seeing again and again. I remember.

I think the impetus was Mom's retirement after 30 years of being the secretary at their church. It appears to have prompted some wanderlust and I'm glad Mom & Dad are going for it. :)

Mom has some cousins in Las Vegas to visit, plus of course, it's VEGAS. Mom & Dad both like the slots, so I imagine there will be some time in the casinos too.

Sometime next week, as they amble back toward Kentucky, they're going to stop here. I am very thrilled about that. I hope I'm in good enough shape to show them some of the interesting attractions here. As previously noted, they'll be happy to do some sightseeing, but also to take care of me a bit. It's all good when I get to spend time with my folks. All good, always.

A late night news report from IRC...
(nicks have been altered)
<QS> oh
<QS> my
<QS> god
<QS> Spouse... thankfully warned me first instead of being the boy-sticking-girls-pigtail-in-inkwell that he usually is
<QS> He spotted a CREATURE on our back porch on the end near the bedroom
<QS> He told me about the CREATURE
<QS> I thought he was teasing me
<QS> I thought he was fibbing or at least exaggerating
<QS> <blink>
* Tyr raises an intrigued eyebrow
<QS> The creature... <gulp>....
<QS> was a
<Tyr> PEEPING TOM!
<QS> big fucking TARANTULA
<Tyr> Oh..wait...this isn't a guessing game?
<Tyr> EW!
<Numpty> lol
<Tyr> I think I'd have preferred a peeping tom
<QS> No shit sherlock
<Numpty> rofl
<QS> I don't think it would fit in the palm of my hand
<QS> I'd rather DO a peeping Tom than have a taratula in my territory
<QS> I can't even type it consistently
<QS> geezusfukingchrist I hate spiders and I have been moved into the land of giant ones
<Tyr> I assume it's under the heel of a shoe now? And yes...that -is- one of the issues of moving further and further south...at least here, the majority of spiders are small(ish)
<QS> I really really do NOT appreciate the universe's sense of humor
<QS> HELL NO
<Numpty> tarantella
<QS> It's outside and I may never go outside again
<QS> Yeah I know that music and it's not bad, but I don't want its namesake on my porch
<QS> Apparently it did not see anything tasty to eat on our porch because it SHIFTED a few times then LUMBERED off into the dark
<QS> Here's another point and this will all be in a blog entry shortly
<QS> I called last week to hire a bug sprayer guy. He came JUST today.... yeah TODAY
<QS> And then this behemoth shows up tonight???
<Tyr> it was probably lurking around enjoying itself..then you went and killed all its prey..so it's gotten upset with you. <nodnod..>
<QS> To what? Thumb his whatever at us and say, "I no feeeear your freekin sprays"???
<QS> Damn, this sorta thing sure will make a girl forget all about her ailments for a bit
<QS> I mean, my heart is beating fast.
<QS> gawd what a beast
<Numpty> QS..they're harmless
<QS> Not for my heart and BP they ain't
<QS> hehe
<QS> I am almost arachnophobic
<QS> So a visit from their QUEEN is not exactly good for my constitution
<QS> It's not bites or poisons. I know some people keep 'em for pets
<QS> It's the the too-many-freakin-legs and all the sneaking around, and appearing out of nowhere, and staring at you
<QS> I dunno, maybe I was The Fly in a previous life
<QS> but they give me a serious case of the willies
<QS> I hope a damn bird eats this one.
<QS> <shudder>
<Tyr> Or it eats a bi..oh right, bird eats it.
<QS> I'll have to stay up long hours tonight and watch lots of Disney or something
<QS> <shiver>
<QS> whew <fan face> seriously
<QS> Honestly, its body was almost as big as a ping pong ball
<Tyr> Look on the bright side QS...it's not a scorpion, and it doesn't have wings. There's nothing worse than puttering around your kitchen and frowning cause the light seems to be flickering...only to discover the reason it's flickering is there's the hugest, ugliest moth you've ever seen flying around.
<QS> lol
<QS> I don't think I will even mind scorpions as much. There's no phobia lurking in my psyche concerning them.
<Tyr> I hate sleeping and hearing fluttering of wings, or buzzing or anything suggesting there's a bug within the same vincinity as my bed. At least spiders are -quiet- (though even more freakishly disturbing if you feel one, or any bug, crawling on you)
<QS> I -think- I read in my research before coming here that the scorpions are relatively small and not poisonous enough to harm humans much
* Numpty blinks
<Numpty> Scorpions sting..as far as I know, tarantulas just are big and ugly <g>
<Tyr> Same token, most spiders aren't either. Even Tarantulas
<QS> I may have to talk Spouse into letting me have a cat
* Numpty grins
<QS> Although if it brought me even a dead tarantula as a 'gift'... I'd likely pass out
<Numpty> why..no self respecting cat will hunt spiders!
<QS> Oh yes they will too
<QS> I had a hero for a while years back, Max (Maximillian)
<Numpty> that's what they want you to THINK
<QS> He kept the apartment clear of spiders
<QS> hehe
<QS> "New Mexico has one scorpion that is deadly. The rest have a sting that is about as strong as a bee or wasp"
<QS> also saw that scorpions are not aggressive and generally only sting if you press on them
* QS will more aggressively shake out her shoes now... at arm's length even.
<QS> up to 6 inch centipedes are in these parts too and they bite
<QS> Right now I almost feel I am in the Land That Time Forgot!
<QS> Fortunately I am not really worried about these things getting in the house much, if ever. We're on a slab. It's new construction and pretty tightly so. The only problem is that twice I caught a door cracked open hours after spouse left the house. Every morning he goes out and takes a walk aound the house perimeter with his cup of coffee.
<QS> It is unlikely that these things would be free ranging in the daytime, so I just have to check the doors
<QS> and keep tub drains closed... and shake out my shoes... and....
<QS> hehe
<Numpty> LOL
<Numpty> oh my
<Tyr> She'sneverleavingthehouse
<QS> I gotta calm down
<Tyr> You'll be fine QS...think about it even tracingly rationally. A spider weighs what...couple of ounces? You can take 'em!
<QS> Kinda disturbing, this arachnophobia. I mean, I'm not that afraid of anything else, not snakes or heights or closed in places or...whatever
<QS> or clowns
<QS> like Tyr *thwap*
<Tyr> ow
<QS> I think this one was about half a pound, but yeah I have tried to rationalize and desensitize with that very argument
<QS> It works in my forebrain, but the hindbrain is still scared shitless to even see a small spider

PS - The intruder was more likely a male than a female. Reportedly, the males are bigger and the females rarely leave their homes. However, the same article said the males are usually darker, often black, but the females are usually brown and this one was brown. If this one was the female, I hope to never see the male. Nor do I want to contemplate that maybe this was a female and her home is actually at the edge of my porch!

So like I was a little worried about regularly taking the quantity of Advil required to stifle this hip pain, especially since others were voicing their concerns. Indeed there are warnings and such and since my needed dose is four times the recommended single dose and two of my doses would exceed the recommended daily limit (6), well, it was a legitimate concern. THUS, I called the CTC today to 1) inform them that inflammation was involved in the hip pain, 2) see if they'd gotten the xray reports and what they said, 3) ask about ibuprofen and risks.

1) No other explanation as yet for the hip pain except for the induced increase in bone marrow production of red blood cells, but that doesn't wholly fly because it's only in one hip and no other large bones, which would be the usual effect.

2) The xrays are clear. They show nothing out of whack. This is good, of course, other than leaving the mystery intact.

3) I am perfectly clear to take up to 800mg (my glorious four tablets) of Advil/ibuprofen every 6 hours!!! The touted risks generally refer to long term use, which is not in the plan, and the primary damage would be to my platelets but my platelet count is just fine right now so I can get the pain relief I need!! AND... because they work in different ways, I may also take a Lortab (hydrocodone) WITH the Advil if needed. In fact, I can take a Lortab5 (5mg of hydrocodone with 500mg acetaminophen) plus another Tylenol to make 1000mg acetominophen, if I want.

Man oh man I am ecstatic! I feel I can get by with the 800mg (4tabs) of Advil/ibuprofen, but it's great to know that if that doesn't do it, I can hit it with the Lortab5+. Yes, baby, I plan to be without pain or damned near it, by golly you betcha. Halle-fukin-lujah!

One of those funky synchronicities has occurred again. I blogged about Hippies on Saturday. I woke up a bit ago and made a trip to the throne room. Not yet okay to go back to sleep, I started to scan the movie channels on TV. Guess what's on? HAIR, the quintessential rock musical of the Hippy movement. heh

Now during some nap over the last week or so, did I catch an ad for it and take it into my subconscious? I do not consciously recall any mention and it appears to be on the schedule only this once for the foreseeable past or future.

So what made this flashback of history come to the surface in my head AND appear on one of the myriad of movie channels we subscribe to, just when I happened to wake up and catch it? I don't know, but I find it interesting.

(added on edit after initial posting-->) Oh, and look at the time stamp on this entry.

omigod ADVIL!! Well, ibuprofen. Tylenol was not affecting the hip pain. Even Lortabs (hydrocodone, an opoid, plus acetaminophen) were not knocking it. They only knock me out a bit and thus for a while I am oblivious, but it's not a functional solution. HOWEVER... it occurred to me that IF the hip pain was due to some kind of inflammation, well then it should respond best to ibuprofen... and it DID. I cannot express how relieved I am. I have been miserable for days, and Saturday in particular, but just a few hours ago, when it was okay to take something again, I tried Advil... and it is SO much better!!! Mercy, I am so very grateful and now going to bed to enjoy the freedom from pain until I drift into more peaceful and painless sleep than I've had in a week.

Despite all quizzes... I am Amethyst I am PURPLE I am Quicksilver