But not for long...

My cat Henry snoozing with my emotional support potato in my lap in the afternoon sun today

Though Henry, my cat, is the one sleeping on the emotional support potato, I kind of need its support as this week progresses.

My last blog post was about how much better I was feeling, how I actually walked to the mailbox, how I was getting some things done around the house...

And then that evening things started shifting.

I started noticing that I was wheezing at times. And this was after having NO wheezing on my mailbox trip.

I generally just didn't feel as well, too.

Then the next morning was rough. I felt rotten. And I noticed being short of breath at times I hadn't been for the previous week or two. My ankles were swelling more than I'd ever noticed before. I felt so tired, kept falling asleep in my chair.

Then yesterday I felt really rough in the morning. I perked up a little around mid-day, and then I felt rotten last night.

What is going on??

Then I realized it was probably that the Ibrance was kicking in after I had been taking it for around a week.

This morning I got a call from the Nashville pharmacy that's in charge of the Ibrance prescription. They had called about the Kisquali as well. I told this nurse what I was experiencing.

She told me to call my oncologist's office.

So I did.

I left a message with the office and pretty quickly got a call back from my doctor's nurse. She went over what I'm experiencing and said she'd report to my doctor. And not long after that she called back with instructions to quit taking the Ibrance and to start a steroid.

It turns out I had that steroid on hand since my oncologist had written a just-in-case prescription back at Christmas when she was going to be out of town. My lungs were a concern then, too.

And they are again.

So for now I'm taking steroids and have a noon appointment for a "nurse eval" at my onology office.

I'm guessing the "eval" will go as it did last time when I was having wheezing and shortness of breath. The nurse will check my BP and pulse oxygen. And it will be okay. And she might even have me walk while she checks my oxygen. It will be okay.

It's okay right now.

But something about these targeted meds affects me and makes me wheeze. And feel bad overall. At least I think it's those meds because when I'm not taking them I feel better and better as they get out of my system.

But dang, I was hopeful that I could tolerate this second one because I know the double-pronged targeting of the cancer is likely more effective. My theory is still that I have so much trouble with these meds because I went through two types of systemic chemo back in 2011 and 2012.

My system seems to be saying "no more chemo!"

Today I did feel a little better overall. I've been wheezing some but not a lot. I haven't felt rotten. Just a little "bad."

The oncology nurse today checked on my referral with a pulmonologist that my oncologist ordered at my last appointment. I haven't heard from that office yet. She gave me a phone number to follow up with tomorrow if I still haven't heard from them. It's been a couple of weeks, but my experience with referrals is that sometimes there's big delay. Maybe today's conversations will get things going??

This morning I talked with my sister after a couple of these calls, and she decided to push up her visit to see me by a few days. We had been looking at late next week but now she'll come this weekend. That gives me something to look forward to!

So once again my wheezing and shortness of breath is puzzling. Maybe steroids will help. I haven't had those before.

I don't expect that the nurse evaluation will show anything amiss. I do expect that not taking Ibrance will help me feel better.

Cancer and its treatment is such a roller coaster. Things can look really good and then change within a few hours.

I'm learning not to get too attached to however I'm feeling. Because it will change!

That's a good thing when I feel rotten.

So this evening I'll enjoy watching some Olympics and an episode or two of a couple of shows I watch on streaming services (the new episodes "drop" on Thursdays).

And I'll hope the steroids don't keep me up all night.

But if they do I can nap all afternoon after my nurse eval. That's a really good thing about being retired. I can't imagine going through all of this and trying to keep up with a job. Or a family.

I once again appreciate your prayers and good vibes.

And I'm sure this won't be my last request for them!

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