filgrastim - first day

as expected, much sitting around and filling out of paperwork, so i was at the med center [read: doc in a box in a suburban plaza] for about two hours; subsequent sessions are expected to be about twenty minutes - show up, fill out the 'how are you feeling' checklist, and get the shots.

the shots themselves are not bad - half of each day's three-bottle dose goes into each tricep, and i'd rate the discomfort a 2/10. i am fortunate enough so far to not have had any of the listed side effects - maybe a touch less appetite, but no rash, nausea, or unexplained aches (my foot hurts where i smacked it with the bucket of kitty litter when i tripped over a cat toy last night; duct tape and gauze to the rescue for the half a square inch of skin i tore off with that little trick)... i presume that an inflamed spleen would make itself known via some kind of weird bloaty ache or something. *laugh*

didn't really impact last night's workout - i missed my last lift because i was tired and the weight was heavy and i just didn't have it in me to get it back off my chest - then again, i was running on two straight hours of increasing frustration - work annoyances, the cat injury, the cats deciding to dig into the tupperware that houses the outside cat chow (twice), a hose that split and sprayed me when i went to water some plants, and the other sorts of 'death of a thousand cuts' that only seem to gang up on you when you're having an annoying time of it already.

I AM NOT MERELY A TROLL ON THE INTERNET, I AM IN A MEDICALLY-INDUCED CASE OF BEING FILLED WITH SPLEEN AND BILE! :-D


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ETA: 2nd Filgrastim treatment didn't go off without a hitch - I was doing too good about calming myself when they took my blood pressure, so my diastolic was out of range - 52, when it needed to be above 55. So I walked around a bit and had it re-tested.

Four hours post-dose today, I think the expected aches are finally showing up - knuckles and a bit of stiffness in my jaw, neck and hips. probably a 2/10 at the worst.

my appetite has diminished somewhat, but i'm still eating normally, and making sure to get plenty of water. thrilling stuff.

quick hit: STELES OF THE SKY, by Elizabeth Bear

the final installment of the trilogy (SHATTERED PILLARS / RANGE OF GHOSTS)

Wonderful. i was bummed it ended. it will get re-read.

as i said on tumblr, when the matociquala made this post:

"If Peter Jackson wants to top what he did with the Battle of Helms Deep and the Battle of Gondor, slap both of those together, add more wizards and magic and a triple feint climax and you get somewhere in the general vicinity of what this series led up to holy shit PETER JACKSON TO THE WHITE COURTESY PHONE AND BRING GUILLERMO DEL TORO WITH YOU."

a more nuanced (and, with profound gratitude to e.bear, less heinously off-base) review will be coming, but I finished the book about ten minutes ago and want to ruminate on it a bit first.