a little peace for a bit

It's not completely gone away, but my stomach has calmed down a little. I do not know if it was the crushed Protonix pill or not; I asked my pharmacist and she said don't do that. :\

I did get to talk with my friend about what's happened to him. He's still in those surrealistic days since it's been just a bit more than a week that he found out. It's either a guy thing or something else but he too was strangely relieved to hear there was a reason for the pain he was having. It's in his back; one of his vertebrae, specifically. Whatever it is, it has caused a fracture and allowed that bone to compress with plenty of natural swelling that the body tries to use in reaction to an injury. To me he sounds like he's taking it well and he won't be leaving my prayers any time soon. I am very glad we finally connected and even more glad his treatment probably will not involve any radiation.

What about me? Well thank you for asking...

Jody and I paid another visit to Dr. Grasso this past Tuesday afternoon. I was expecting to get x-rayed with a little something extra (contrast) and I was psyched and ready. Nope. I misunderstood Dr. Grasso at our last visit and he wanted to check me out again to make sure I was ready for the x-ray exam. first it was holistic and then came the scope. His resident was attending as well so I got to do the exam twice. And I'll stop right there.

Everything checked out so I got the okay to get the x-ray and then some. I'll courier the films back to his office and pray we can schedule the reversal surgery shortly thereafter.

Meanwhile, long term disability is pending. Jody and I taked it through last night and this morning and decided to go ahead and buy my existing coverage via COBRA. It will cost a lot more but it will be far less hassle for the short time I'll be on it. I will also not lose the help of my case manager, Denise. She has been so awesome through this whole thing.

On the work front, I'm getting some resistance for the proposed schedule I think I can resume; half days for a week, off some of the next week when I'm on chemo. Lockheed doesn;t usually do that. I pushed a little and got them to at least consider it if I can get my doctors and my management to back me up. I think that won't be difficult. What's being missed in all this 'you need time to heal' chorus is the value of human interaction and the benefits of feeling useful. I'll give it a try... otherwise, I'm forecasting 20-22 more weeks off between the expected surgery, recovery, and the remaining chemo rounds.

Round four next week. I hope the Protonix works better with a few more pills gone from the bottle.