“Absolutely not. I want to exhaust every other option first.”
She must have seen the look on my face before I spoke a single word, because after I said no, she immediately said, “I understand completely and will respect your wishes. But know that IV steroids will be the fastest way to clear this up.”
I said I didn’t care; that I’d seen enough of the inside of that damned hospital.
She brought in her senior colleague, and between the three of us we came up with a course of treatment: that did not require any further hospitalization—at least not for now.
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- Double Duplixent dosage (every week instead of every two weeks)
- Go back on a high dose of prednisone for the nex six weeks, gradually lowering the dose and then, if successful, begin a long-term, low dose regimen.
- Continue with the red-capped pain killer if effective and she will write a new script if I need it for longer than what I have on hand will cover.
- Ordered a tub of the Triamcinolone ointment for all over toso use and a tube of Clobetasol for between my fingers/toes.
- Refilled the “magic mouthwash’ I got from my oncologist several months ago.
- Followup in two weeks, and two weeks thereafter.
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If things don’t improve after the course of prednisone (six weeks) at that point we wil reluctantly agree to the intravenous route. Both doctors pointed out that this may be available on an outpatient basis (since I had that midline and tolerated it well.
As I told my doc today, “It’s not the itching. It’s not the blisters. It’s not the general ugliness of this condition. It’s my utter lack of being able to concentrate on anything because every waking thought is consumed with this condition. (Even now, it’s taken me nearly two hours to write this one, simple post.)
5 comments
Mark, I am so sorry that you have to deal with this rash. Hopefully, this path of treatment brings you much needed relief.
Hugs to you and Ben. It’s a difficult time for you both.
Hope the regimen works this time- and that relief from the itching / burning comes very soon.
Fight on! F**k cancer!
I hate seeing anyone suffer and wish I could make it better. I know to some degree how the body’s ailments can consume your every moment. If I believed in prayer, I would pray…prayer, I think, was invented to assuage the feeling of helplessness. Stay strong. Thank you for your blog…perhaps all the political bullshit that we are exposed to every day is just more poison, so perhaps go lightly there.
I’m glad she has a plan for you that doesn’t involve the hospital. Keeping my fingers and toes crossed that this knocks it out. Fuck cancer!
Wow, I’m so sorry you’re going through this episode. Cancer is no fun, but side effects like that can tear you apart. I’m sending good energy to you. Hoping for the best.