Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Side effects wearing off

I woke up a couple times Monday night with a throbbing head, but each time it went away after a few minutes of getting up. I currently have an overall groggy feeling; I feel sluggish in both mind and body. At the current rate of improvement I think I'll start at the same baseline for week 2 of IL-2. One of the common side effects of this treatment is itching and rashes; I am not excluded from this. The nature of the rashes confuse me as they show up at random times in random places. I think my body still hasn't stabilized to what has been done to it. At this point the rashes are mostly a nuisance.

Morgan and Landon are nearly four now and Deb has been thinking awhile about getting them proper twin beds for their rooms, versus the convertible crib / day beds they are in now. I, of course, never think about these things, but then again most men don't. Since we both have a lot of free time (Deb is on summer break), we felt that this was a project we could tackle this week. Deb felt that a lot of the furniture could come from IKEA, so we loaded up the family in the SUV.

The twins romped around in the play area for an hour while Deb and I put together our item list. IKEA is one of those stores where you are a lot better off looking through their catalog before shopping, otherwise there is a sensory overload from all of the very inexpensive stuff (hmm... where could I put this cool $6 magnetic knife holder). Fortunately we had a pretty solid plan going in, so we were able to get IN to the checkout line in about an hour. Fortunately we were there on a Tuesday afternoon (which anyone who has shopped there on the weekend will understand). IKEA has appeal to both women and men for a couple reasons. Women like to visualize how different items in the store will enhance their home. Men like to solve the problem of getting all the boxes of stuff into (or onto) the car in a single trip. Tip for the women out there: let the man solve this problem on his own and thank him for it (even if it isn't in the most efficient manner), since success can partial offset the pain experienced in the wallet just minutes previous.

Later this evening Chuck and Missy will be visiting us from NC. In the meantime we have beds (and a dresser) from IKEA to assemble!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the updates. Our prayers can be more specific now.

May this treatment help in improving Nate's health.

God be with you all.

Carol

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the updates...I checked too soon, before they started, and then have been away so I"m catching up all at once today...so glad for the hope this new treatment can bring, so sorry for the intensity of the side effects...may the peace of Jesus continue to hold you in rest, even as the valley is hard to go through...and prayers for you too, Deb..and the kids...you are truly an amazing example as a family of courage, faith, and hope...love to you all, Aunt Ruth VR

Jim N. said...

Yeah, I echo the thanks for giving us detailed updates of how you're feeling, where you're at with treatments, what life is like day-to-day. It helps us alot as we pray. Thanks, Nate.

Jim & Shannon N.

Anonymous said...

Nate,

I stumbled on to this the other day while thinking about going to an autocross this year. It looks like you have been up against much bigger challenges.

It was fun competing against you back then. I hope to see you at an autocross or a track day.

Wishing you well in your treatment and recovery.

Luis M