My infusions are getting to be routine things. The only questions are which nurse (Kim this time), which station and which color of tape on my arm..

I did forget Sherry’s foam reading pillow in the waiting room. A text to Sherry and the nice receptionist brought it to me. It makes reading my book easier.

This time it was Christopher Wright, Here Are Your Gods. That is some research for Sunday’s sermon “Repentance: The Way Back” from Jeremiah 3. I need to name the gods people worhip todday since we don’t have temples to Ba’al or Asherah in our towns that Christians are tempted to go to. Wright helped me see that we can find those gods that take us away from YHWH by examining what I wonder about that doesn’t lead to YHWH. Ponder the things (or people or systems) in which we place our trust to deliver us from the things we fear. He suggests the gods find their incarnations in things like wealth, sex, race, nationalism, and self-love.

The immunotherapy is having impact for sure. First, my liver numbers (AST and ALT) are up which in normal but needs watching. Second, when Sherry and I got home, I discovered that I was pretty wiped. So I went to bed early and slept solidly for 11 hours!!

The third and much bigger impact is the rash on my back. Now I need to explain that be be a Breshears is to have an itchy back. So toweling after my morning shower is a great pleasure. This rash gave itchy a whole new painful reality. I reported it to Dr. Mashru and he was not surprised. Rashes like this are a common effect of stimulating the immune system. He prescribed anointing with a magic ointment cream and taking a Zertec once a day. I am glad to report amazing results! The picture is after two anointtings and the redness is half what it was 24 hours earlier.

Now the conundrum two fold: (1) the little tube is only 2 1/2 ounces, can be refilled only after 10 days, and my back is big! (2) how to get the anointing when I leave home before Sherry gets up (she said I may wake her – which is a huge offense in my inner rule system!!). The bigger conundrum is what to do when I am traveling. Several have give Ideas in the comments and we may have a solution. I am always open to more ideas that don’t waste the precious ointment.

UPDATE: I talked with Trish, the oncology case manager and we have refills approved. I went to the pharmacy to pick one up and the pharmacist told me the insurance would not cover it since it had been less than a week. I told him the story and my conversation with Trish. He asked several questions, did a bunch of stuff on his terminal, told me he would call me back up which he soon did. I now have a tube of the magic ointment more than 5 times as large as the first and only had to do the copay!