I'd been going downhill pretty quickly lately. It's bad enough dealing with the fatigue from a body that been ravaged by seven years of (..bad luck) chemo and radiation treatment let alone non-existent blood counts and lungs destroyed by pneumonia and BOOP.
Last weekend was a shocker! Starting Friday each day was worse than the day before. It got to the point where I would dread the short trip to the bathroom because it would leave me so completely exhausted upon arrival that I'd be on the verge of passing out because I could not get enough air into my system to maintain function.
By Monday I'd decided that something needed to be done. I'd run a high fever that night, something not too uncommon but when combined with the fatigue it rang a few bells.
I got on the phone to the Cancer Day ward and I asked if I could come in for some blood tests and cultures. They said they were too busy and to go through the Emergency Dept.
So Sarah and I packed for an overnight stay in hospital and headed off to Wgtn ED.
I always seem to get fast tracked when ever I go there (that's usually because I'm almost dead!) so no worries about waiting around with the great unwashed in the reception area ;)
The young haematology registrar that came to see me in my cubicle was Paula, someone I'd dealt with in the past and got on well with.
She knew quite a lot about me and I told her that I really just wanted some blood and some blood cultures taken to make sure I wasn't growing anything. Which it was!
That all worked well but she wanted me to have some platelets, which I didn't really need, before she would let me go home. I could have some whole blood but I'd have to stay the night. Considering I was due back in the morning for blood anyway it seemed to be fairly pointless spending a night in hospital just so I could have some blood a few hours earlier than scheduled and then falling asleep in a lumpy bed.
Next day Sarah and I returned to the day ward and sure enough my test results showed I had been growing a bug, possibly on my PICC line (the line in my arm used for transfusions etc). So a few doses of IV antibiotics and two bags of blood later and I'm now starting to feel almost human again.
I can move around the house without too much fuss as long as I pace myself. The PICC line will need to come out, they'll do that tomorrow after my blood transfusion.
I've asked the doctors that in the future my haemoglobin be kept above 105 and that if it looks like it may drop below that figure before my next appointment then it should be topped up.
Last weekend I had a count of 104 on the Friday but it was 84 by Monday. Little wonder I was fatigued, what little oxygen my lungs did manage to get in just wasn't getting to my muscles.
My heart would have to beat faster to keep up and that explained the downward spiral I'd go into from even the slightest effort.
Up until a year or so ago I used to sit in the big chairs in the Day ward, getting my blood or what ever it was I was in for and look at the other patients and think "gee that guys sick" or "gosh that poor lady doesn't look well" I'm fine by comparison. I'll be out motor-racing next weekend or working around the house.
Last Monday while getting my two bags of blood and antibiotics I lay reclined in my Lazy Boy chair
and looked around the room at the other patients... "That 80 y/o guy can't be that sick! look at how fast he gets out of his chair! lucky old coot! and that 40 something businessman over their with no hair, looks to be at least 65kg! fat bastard!
Funny how things change... ;)
I've just completed having my left eye surgery done. The surgeon did things a little different than he did for the right eye. He injected a small amount of antibiotic into the eye. The result has been that the eye is quite puffy and is going to take a couple of days before my vision completely re-adjusts.
However even now it's amazing just how much the improvement is. I didn't realise that the real world was in HD! ;)
The start of chemo has been put off by a week due to the blood infection. I should start the first cycle sometime around August 15th. If it stops this insane itch of mine it can't come soon enough! It's driving me nuts again!
Later ..Ron
