Scattered Thoughts . . .

This evening was the last dose of my steroid therapy.  We're hoping this short term therapy will be enough to help me recover from the severe systemic mastocytosis anaphylactic episode I had last week and has been plaguing me on and off for the past week. The headaches which are perhaps the most common side effect of Prednisone started yesterday for me.  I had a headache all through the night last night and today the headache has been worse.  Needless to say, I'm glad that tonight was my last dose.   On the positive side, I am feeling a little more stable this evening.  I don't think I've had any breathing problems since last night...  so...  that would be the first 24 hour period without a seesawing back toward an anaphylactic low.  So, that is definitely good news.   I suspect the headaches will linger for a couple or few days and taper off slowly.  Headaches can be prevalent in systemic mastocytosis too but I'm hoping my headaches are due to the Prednisone since

T his morning, Sheila and I headed into town for an appointment with my primary care doctor.  I was feeling pretty lousy but the drive is a short one so it didn't take too much out of me.  I definitely did not want to go though.  At this point, I'm pretty sick and tired of medical problems being front and center in my life so having another medical appointment did not thrill me in the least. When my doctor came into the examining room, Sheila and I were both surprised to learn that she had already discussed my case with my oncologist before we arrived this morning!  She knew things that I had discussed with my oncologist last night and it was obvious they talked about changing some of my medications.  This sort of effective communication is great but it is also a stark reminder that my health problems are serious.   The other sign of the seriousness of my health is that my oncologist worked on my case Monday afternoon and into Monday evening.  She was still contacting me and my