Today, 11/13/01, my wheelchair and walker were delivered.  I haven’t used either one yet.  I figure I'll have to use something for the trip to the Oncologist on Friday for my treatment and when I go to the movies with Casey and stuff like that.  But around the house, I’m trying to do without them to strengthen my legs and ankles.  I know it’s good for me to stay walking and not rely on the wheelchair or walker unless I have to for longer excursions.  Like I said, I’m planning to kick ass here.  Physical therapy is my friend.

            The low-sodium diet they've got me on is kind of a bummer.  My favorite snacks have always been chips and popcorn and cheese doodles and stuff like that.  Guess I need to start finding some alternatives, like salt-substitute stuff or something.  They've also got me watching my potassium intake, so no bananas and a few other things I'd like to have, especially now that I can't.  Meanwhile, I've been getting a lot of craving for sweets, which is kind of unusual.  I've never been all that big on candy, till lately.  I suppose that'll be the next thing they restrict.

            It's now Thursday, 11/15/01, so I've been home for a couple of days and feeling better all the time.  I get up and do a little walking every hour or two for 10 minutes or so.  I let the dog out or get a snack or go to the bathroom, check the mail... anything to move around a bit.  They've still got me on the meds that make me urinate more than I take in, and my legs and feet are still de-swelling from it.  It's taking longer than I'd hoped, but I'm seeing and feeling results at least.  They're going down slowly but surely.  They still look like something out of an old cartoon of balloon people.

            My arms are still pretty bruised up from all the needle stuff they did in the hospitals, but that's going away too finally.  The biopsy site on my groin has a few stitches in it still, but the dressing stays clean so I guess nothing's leaking.  It hurt for the first couple of days, but feels fine now unless I actually bump it or something.  It's still a bit bruised looking.

            That's all just minor stuff though.  All in all, I feel really good.  I'm sleeping well at night and haven't had any night sweats since they did the blood transfusion in Knoxville, which is really great cause that was a really nasty experience I hope not to have to repeat any time soon.  I don't really feel tired during the day, so I guess I'm getting enough rest.

            I've been doing a lot of reading up on my disease online since I got home and I'll start putting up some links to informative sites here so you can look into them if you like.  Mostly, it will make for an easy place for me to access them from.  I'm finding out lots of stuff, getting a crash course in cancer, particularly 4th stage B-cell NHL and the associated treatments, research, foundations and so forth.  I'll leave the info where it is and keep using these pages for my own personal info.  If you get interested in finding out more details, you can always hit the links on your own.

             Next: My second Rituxan treatment