Friday, November 14, 2008

Well I thought I’d bring you all up-to-date on where I’m at right now, since being in the hospital. I went for a follow-up at the cardiologist, and had a normal rhythm EKG. They were very pleased and don’t need to see me back for six weeks; just before Christmas. I also saw the vascular surgeon, and both agree that now that my heart is on the mend, my toes should be too. They say that there are little “embolic” clots in the very tip of my toes, stemming from the heart problem, which is stemming from chemo. Of course all roads lead back to chemo. In the meantime, I’ve been in excruciating pain with the toes. My oncology nurse practitioner said she couldn’t stand seeing me in such pain, and gave me liquid morphine to get through the nights until these toes clear up. Thanks to my good friend Dr. Tom, I’ve been hooked up with a pain specialist. I have to wait until Thursday to see him. I’m hoping he can help—I’m sure he can. Thanks, Tom! The good news is I took the liquid morphine last night and it got me through without any help from the Lidocaine creams & patches I’ve been using. I even got through the entire day today teaching and didn’t need to use any Lidocaine, so maybe it is starting to get better. It’s very hard to walk on because the big toe is blistered all over from all the pain meds I’ve used on it. Please do keep me (and my toes) in your prayers for a quick resolution. I was able to get back on my chemo regimen yesterday. Thank you for all the wonderful emails I’ve been getting from all of you. They really help.

1 comment:

Kathy Capitani said...

Hi JoAnn,

Just want you to know that I keep you in my prayers daily. I hope that soon you will be singing pain free with all of your students. with muchos abroazos, Kathy