Well, I think I'm riding that darn cursor now. However, there isn't anyone who can say, with authority, "take the next turn," so it gets even more frustrating. My doctor is exceptional, but he doesn't pretend to know everything. And I'm dealing with aging (never been 84 before--don't know what's par for that course), the ongoing progress of arthritis in all my joints, cancer (where is it--has it wandered to a new area? Is it gone?) and the complication of the treatment needed, and still the same old Achilles heel(s): my knees. How do you deal with all of the above? How do you identify what's attacking your body?
Fatigue, I've knocked in the head. That is a bona fide side effect of the Keytruda and I sleep a good 12 hours a day--a 4:30 nap when I run out of steam and the rest at night. Although frustrating and difficult to accomplish much, this is actually a blessing. The ability to sleep escapes many cancer patients . . and other 80+ year olds! I do it well.
I'm no stranger to pain, since I have suffered from knee problems since my late 'teens, and have lived with sciatic nerve pain off and on ever since 1968, but it is disconcerting when pain strikes now. Is it just the same old, same old--just aggravated by the other factors? Or is it the cancer or the cure that is affecting my body?
I have unpredictable "spells" of discomfort and, lately; lack of balance keeps me using a walker most of the time. I haven't figured out any pattern for these minor setbacks--and maybe don't have to.
No set answers, no concrete path to follow. So, my "formula" for surviving is the same as it always has been--take one day at a time; plan as if you'll live forever and enjoy every day in case you don't!!
I'm recalculating . . .
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