What a week!

We literally had an appointment every day this week. Monday was education. Tuesday was treatment. Wednesday was another biopsy (unrelated as far as we know) and a blood transfusion. Thursday was my rescheduled Pet Scan and Friday was an appointment with my primary. 

Now try to mix work into that and I was toast yesterday. Luckily I got to spend most of it watching Grace's swim meet, but the bleachers weren't kind to my back. I didn't feel bad, just drained. 

Friday, I got a little dog therapy as my sister-in-law brought over her new puppy to meet our dogs and it was the best thing for me. 

Today we're back at the pool for Grace's final chance to make district times in a couple of events. She made time yesterday in one event which was amazing! She's been working so hard this season and it's rewarding to see her hit a goal. 

I mentioned a little earlier that Wednesday I had another blood transfusion. One of the effects of Myeloma is a lack of Hemoglobin. A normal guy my age would have a 14-16, but I have a low level of 8. My body tries to compensate by pumping my heart rate up to move what is there, so after treatment Tuesday I had another heart rate spike. Luckily a quick call to my doctor calmed me and he recommended another blood transfusion to bring up my levels a bit for the next day. 

The transfusions haven't bothered me at this point. I actually feel quite a bit better after them. When I started this blog I felt a bit selfish. I've done blogs before and it felt like yelling into the ether so I didn't think this one would be much different, but earlier this week I had several people reach out to me that the news and stories I've shared has inspired them to start giving blood again after some small hiatuses. 

Sitting in the chemo treatment room looking up at the bag of blood that is helping me definitely made me feel good. Even if it's just a couple of people that decide to start giving again, that's good enough for me. Something good has come out of this. I used to give regularly in my late teens and 20s. Now I just wish I'd have continued giving myself. 

Luckily this week if all goes well, it'll just be a treatment on Tuesday. I'm hoping again for minimal side effects like last time.