Sunday, December 7, 2008

It's that time of year.

It's a busy time of year - with lots of hustle and bustle, greeting and eating, shopping and dropping.

On Saturday night, I agreed to be the "pinch hit" hostess for a dinner party for eight after the original hostess sprained her leg. You can read about the signature Winter Delight Salad I prepared at Open Mouth, Insert Fork.

It's also that time of year when I'm busy at the City of Hope with six-month CT and PET scans, my quarterly infusion of Rituxan and follow-up appointments.

I'm gradually tapering off the Prednisone (down to 10 mg every other day), and I'm already starting to experience the same GI symptoms that were prevalent when my eosinophil (EOS) levels began to rise in May. I'll have a blood test on Monday, December 15, to confirm if those whacky EOS are once again on the rise. As we learned the hard way, out-of-control EOS can make me very, very sick, so it's important to rein them in right away. Like diabetes, hyper eosinophilic syndrome (HES), is controllable, but it's a lifelong challenge.

One good thing is that my preoccupation with my EOS levels (along with the hustle bustle of the season) have taken my mind off the possibility of a relapse of mantle cell lymphoma (MCL)

4 comments:

Nancy said...

How is it that we miss each other by one day again? Your appointment is December 15th, mine is the 16th.

It's good that you are so busy, even though it's with HES, that you don't think about relapse. I make it a point not to think about relapse!!!

Enjoy getting ready for the holidays. Some just want to get it over with... after cancer, I enjoy that I can prepare for it as well. It's the journey that's fun! It's every day that's a blessing... Hope to see you soon, Susan. love, nancy

Ronni Gordon said...

I guess you and your EOS are kind of like me and my CMV. (Who ever knew BC that we'd even know about this medical alphabet soup?) It's frustrating to have to deal with these things, but as you said, it's better than thinking too much about relapse. Glad that you're busy with good things.

Margaret said...

Not at all happy to hear about the return of those symptoms, but hopefully you'll have a clearer path towards dealing with them this time. I am happy to hear that you're posing on your food blog. I'll go take a look right now.

Susan C said...

Nancy, Let's try to meet up on the 16th. I'll email you.

Ronni, LOL, Yes, it's quite the alphabet jumble isn't it.

Margaret, "clearer path towards dealing" - very true. We'll really be on top of things. A yahoo group for patients with EOS disorders has also been a tremendous resource.