Maintenance and Monitoring

We've returned to life as normal following the snow, so yesterday I went to 2 appointments in Columbus that were rescheduled from the previous week. First up in the morning was the regular Aranesp/Zometa tango, with a twist. My hemoglobin level was 13.4, so again, no Aranesp needed; but this being the third session with elevated levels, I'm officially off Aranesp for the first time in over 2 years!

In the afternoon, I met with Dr SC for the first time since summer. He informed me that my creatinine level is slightly elevated, indicating that my remaining kidney isn't working as efficiently as it has been. As Zometa's side effects include depressed kidney function, he is taking me off Zometa, substituting a 4-week followup for labwork in place of the infusion. We'll continue labwork on a 4-week rotation, and resume Aranesp and/or Zometa as needed based on monitored results. I'll still have to get poked, of course, but I won't miss the injections and infusions. I suspect my insurance company won't miss them either: without these drugs my maintenance costs drop from $20,000 a month to about $9,000 a month.

What did I do with the 4-hour break between appointments? My friend and sister Mary drove down with me, so we met friend CR for lunch and discussed her involvement with the Central Ohio Fiction Writers. Then Mary and I checked out cookware at TJMaxx. Her kitchen remodeling is nearly finished and she's got to replace some pans to work with her new cooktop; I need to replace some of my 30-plus year old bakeware. Shopping, oh darn ...