So I came home from my infusion the other day with a little bit of a negative attitude towards the medical community in general...  I know that they ultimately think they have my best interests in mind, but I don't like being treated like I have no clue what is going on.  I know that one of the common side effects of the Avastin that I am on is high blood pressure, but I was not convinced when I came home that I am suffering from that.  So I came home with the medication for high blood pressure on Wednesday with the intent to monitor my blood pressure at home and if it really is consistently high, then I would take the medication that I was given.  If not, then I would talk to my doctor about not taking it.

I was able to pick up a blood pressure cuff from my mom and have been trying to take it daily - which is a hard thing for me with a very active family of 6 young kids!  The times when I have remembered it and actually tried to sit down for a period of time to take my blood pressure, it has been normal...  

So I got a call from the pharmacy the week after my infusion and they asked how I was tolerating the medication - to which I gave maybe a misleading answer.  I said that I was doing fine and they asked if I had been monitoring my blood pressure to which I replied that I had been.  When I responded that it had been normal, the pharmacist asked for some of my readings which I read to him.  He quite frankly sounded surprised that my blood pressure was normal and responded that it sounded like the prescription was doing what they had hoped and that they would not need to up to dosage.  So, now I guess I need to talk to my doctor and the study coordinator and admit to them that I have not been taking the medication...