Yesterday I was at the clinic for blood tests and to see the Onc. First stop was to get my blood drawn out of my PICC line and then have it redressed. Then I stopped at the coffee shop for a bite to eat and a small coffee before my Onc appointment. As I was sitting there looking ever so relaxed, the trials nurse happen to walk by and said, would you mind if I check your bp? Sure, she went and got a bp monitor and proceeded to take my bp. Unfortunately, It was still high. She then said let’s go find a bed and see if we can get a better reading. After a couple more readings, it’s still high and maybe a tick higher.
The nurse left to talk to the Onc and before you know it, around the corner here he comes. He listened to my heart and took my pulse and poked around my liver. He asked how I was feeling and I told him that I’m feeling better but struggle with irregularity. He said … well ... that’s par for the course.
The Onc and nurse both left for a short while and then the nurse returned with another bp prescription, 5 mg of Amlodipine. And that’s on top of my 10 mg of Ramipril. She also said I should purchase my own bp monitor with a leg cuff to read between clinic appointments.
Then we looked at my blood work which showed a further improvement in liver function. Sorry I don’t have any numbers for you … I was a bit distracted with the high bp. On the down side, the protein level in my blood is down so I need to increase my protein intake. So to help get that going, the nurse gave me a few protein shake samples.
8 comments:
I am so impressed about how much personal care you are receiving. It sounds like they are going to take really good care of you.
You may have high blood pressure now but your healthcare teams sounds pretty incredible. I am sure they will be able to get it down to where it needs to be.
Do you meditate or do Qi Gong? I apologize if you have already stated you do these things. Qi Gong really relaxes me........
I hope they get your Bp under control soon. God Bless
Denise, no I don't meditate or do Qi Gong. We're pretty sure the Brivanib, the chemo drug, is causing this high blood pressure. I've never had a problem with high blood pressure prior to starting this drug.
So happy to hear your liver function numbers are better but don't like learning your b/p is still high......hope the new medication works, has the other side effects stopped? Keeping you in my prayers....:-) Hugs
Daria, I'm so sorry about the ongoing BP problems. I know they can make you feel awful in addition to having to take more meds in order to control it. Great news about the liver numbers!
Bernie some of the other side effects are definably down. I was having bad chills and nausea and both have just about disappeared now. I think the high blood pressure was causing that.
I am very glad they are monitoring you this closely while you are on the clinical trial. I'm glad the liver numbers are up . . . and I hope the bp settles down! : )
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