Day Zero Plus Thirty-one – Winged Scapula or Wing and More Prayer

I gave myself a couple of days off from blog-writing.  Thank you to all my avid readers who missed the daily updates.  

Jeff got a few short walks in this weekend even though he did not feel too great on Sunday.  We often see neighbors when we walk so it is both exercise and social therapy.

Kerry and Theresa signed a lease on an apartment in Bensalem.  They hope to begin house-hunting before too long.  They are under so much pressure now to move next weekend plus take care of all the last-minute wedding details.  I feel sorry for them.  In two weeks’ time, though, they’ll be married!  Kerry asked me to look at music choices for the mother-son dance.  Jeff noticed me crying and, when Kerry turned the other way, I signaled to Jeff to shut-up about my tears!  Kerry harasses me enough about my emotions without providing fuel.  Kerry left us to the task while he worked on table labels for the reception.  I had to bring the tissue box to the table for both Jeff and I to make good use of.  We were wrecks!  What will the wedding day be like for us?!

Last night, I sensed Jeff needed a change of scenery and offered to take him for a ride.  I tried to think of something he might like to “see” by driving by.  I didn’t come up with anything better than a drive to church with our paper recycling.  On the way home, Jeff said, “Kim and Bernie live near here.”  He wanted to drive by their house and, what do you know, the whole family was out front.  We tooted, waved, then parked and got out of the car to say “hello.”   We were invited inside.  I weighed Jeff’s need to see friends with the risk to his health and decided with his mask and gloves on, the risk was minimal.  Kim’s parents were in the house, too.  Her dad, Bob, is Jeff’s cancer compatriot and it was super to see him and his wife, Lee.  We stayed for a short visit – better than medicine.

This morning, at-home Nurse Galina recommended Jeff wear a long-sleeve shirt or carry an umbrella on our walks since Jeff doesn’t care for sunscreen or lotion with SPF protection.  He said, “Oh, great.  I already look funny with mask and gloves.  All I need is an umbrella, too!”  Jeff’s blood pressure was high so the nurse recommended we check it before Thursday when the at-home nurses would visit next.  We borrowed Mother’s blood pressure cuff and will check at least daily for awhile. 

Dr. Porter’s office called to tell us Dr. Porter spoke with a neurologist, Dr. Amy Pruitt, about Jeff’s arm pain and that she could see him this afternoon.  We headed down to Penn to see her for a 5 p.m. appointment, a good time to be heading toward the city - easy traffic.  Dr. Pruitt gave Jeff an extensive neurological exam and determined that his problem is in Cervical Root 8 but cannot explain why.  She asked whether there was one event which caused the problem but Jeff wasn’t sure since it happened during conditioning prior to the transplant.  That week was rough but he associates the pain with radiation since it started around that time.  Dr. Pruitt said that sometimes Shingles expresses with pain related to Cervical Root 8 but that seemed unlikely since Jeff is taking anti-viral meds prophylactically.  When she examined Jeff’s shoulder blades, she looked at me with alarm because his right shoulder blade protruded markedly over his spine.  I said a little shoulder blade protrusion is normal for him but it did look remarkable to me, too.  She called it “winged scapula.”  She noted the diagnosis of Cervical Root 8 is rare enough to not have a diagnosis code on the Penn system; the paperwork reads “chronic cervical radiculopathy.”  She prescribed Neurontin for the pain and ordered an MRI for Friday when we will be in the city anyway for an appointment with Jackie, the transplant coordinator. 

I referred to my earlier blog entries to see when I first began reporting the shoulder, arm and hand pain.  I became convinced that his complaints began shortly after the radiation treatment which was done on what he called the “kiddie table.”  There had been a problem with one of the radiation machines and he had to scrunch up on a tiny table and lay on his side for half an hour.  He was really mad about it because it hurt.  So now the question is, “Can he be fixed?”