It’s been awhile since I last posted, so I figured I’d type up a quick update on the many goings-on in the Salm house.

First things first – my post-chemo CT scan came back normal, which is obviously good news. I go back for another in November to make sure there isn’t any recurring suspicious activity, but for now things are good. I’ve been down this road before, and after you get a couple “all clean” scan reports under your belt you start to unclench your keister, but for now it still causes some anxiety.

The other major update since the last post is that the pleural effusion in my lungs (excess liquid) has cleared up and I’m feeling a lot better. Pulmonary embolisms are no joke. For a couple weeks there I could barely walk up the stairs without feeling like I’d just run a marathon. My resting heart rate was 130, I could hardly breathe, and I would drench my sheets in sweat every night. Bad times. I’m much better now. It’s going to take a lot of work to get to where my body is physically able to do the things I could do before, but I’ll get there. Teddy’s a great workout partner. I ran about 200 yards around the track at Glenbard West with him and could barely keep up!

Also, I’m back on blood thinners. This time it’s Coumadin, which multiple people have been kind enough to point out is basically rat poison. Thanks for that. Anyway, it seems to be working out better than the Xarelto, except that I have to get my blood tested constantly so they can dial in the correct dose. I also had to confront my crippling fear of needles (you’d think I’d be over that by now…) and inject myself with Lovenox twice a day for a week. I made a big stink to the Nurse Practitioner about how I wasn’t going to do it (Sorry, Colleen!), but Jenna successfully guilted me into it by bringing up Teddy and Jimmy. In the end, it wasn’t that bad. The first time I did it, I got the needle about a millimeter from my stomach about 20 times before I was able to jab it in, but it was mostly painless. If I ever wanted to start an intravenous drug addiction I guess I could do it now. Silver linings, right?

This also means I can’t really enjoy adult beverages until I’m off the blood thinners in November (hopefully). This isn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but part of getting back to normal is drinking an irresponsible amount of alcohol occasionally, and I can’t do that. Did you know that most social situations are far less interesting without alcohol? It’s true, and I had no idea! How you teetotalers do it is beyond me.

One more thing – we had our annual fantasy football draft recently, and the fellas really outdid themselves. First of all, they were kind enough to have the draft near my house in Glen Ellyn in case I wasn’t feeling great, and then they gave me a friggin’ championship belt (see below for evidence). I guess I’m the Intercontinental Champion of Beating Cancer’s Stupid Ass.