I decided to head in to the Calgary Lab Service today to get blood work done. I'm not scheduled to give my blood sample Tuesday but for the last 48 hours I have had the sense that my pancreas is acting up again.
Or I'm pregnant.
A couple of things are factoring in to the strategy to go in and endure the two hour wait at the lab.
First, I want the Oncologist to have the information on Monday vs Wednesday. If the lipase is high and I am unable to do Recliner Session on Thursday I would rather resort to getting back on Sutent for the interim.
Secondly, if the pancreas is indeed an issue maybe I move the Feb 6 stent surgery up.
None are thrilling, but at least I am figuring out how to manage the system a bit better, and along the way I am learning to read my body and manage myself a little better.
I'm also adjusting my diet (although I just snuck in a PBJ on a nice artisanal chiabatta) and getting close to NPO. NPO is latin for nil per os, meaning nothing by mouth, which I have done 14 days of since the end of November. It also isn't fun, but when dealing with an angry pancreas sometimes the best thing to do is ignore it by not giving it anything to work on (food or liquids)
And when I say close to NPO I mean I am going to drink warm water and honey, maybe some chicken broth, and for dessert some apple juice.
Some more research required on my pancreatic diet as I have a feeling I can probably tolerate more by testing the system a bit.
My pal the pancreas and I need to get along a bit better. Sometimes you gotta give it tough love.
And just so you know, I've been in a two day staring contest with my pancreas. I'm also trying to manage it internally and externally before I meet up with the medical system.
And that ain't easy.
I can't imagine you've tried to manage your internal organs using your mind, but I'm trying, and trying pretty darn hard. And like I said, it ain't easy. Fortunately I am pretty conscious of where the pancreas is now so that is easy as I'd hate to put all this attention towards the spleen or gall bladder, or even more embarrassingly the missing appendix or kidney.
Either way, I am visualizing a positive pancreatic outcome for today.
Later report:
Got the blood test, only took 2 hours so that wasn't too bad. And while there I did a bit of further research on diet.
Now I need to determine how close to NPO I should go.
Which reminds me of this song. How low can you go.