So on the morning of June 7th I woke up with a fever of 99.5 and slight headache. I took some Ibuprofen and slept for several hours. But later that evening I felt fine. The next morning I woke feeling even worse and I took my temp and not too my surprise is was 101.0. Now for cancer patients anything over 100.4 the doctors get concerned. So I called Dr. Draper and he wanted to me to get to the hospital and get a blood and urine culture to check for infection as well as a complete blood count. I quickly got dressed, ran Kalli to the sitters and drove myself to the hospital. After getting my blood drawn and all that I came back home and slept for several hours again. I was woken up by a phone call from Dr. Draper telling me that I needed to head to the hospital. That I had something called neutripenic fever. Which is basically when your white counts are so low that you most likely have an infection and your body will have trouble fighting it off on it's own. He said I needed to go get fluids, antibiotics and a Neupogen shot for a couple of days. So basically called my mom to see if she could take me as Kurt was hard to reach at work. I was pretty sad that I wouldn't be able to see Kalli for a few days and I didn't get to say goodbye. But I knew I needed to get healthy.
Once I arrived at the hospital there was a lot of waiting around before I was really seen by anyone. Once things got settled though they hooked me up to my port and started me on the antibiotics and fluids. They took my temp and at the time it was normal. Luckily I got there in time to get a meal LOL. My mom stayed with me for a few hours while I got settled in and then she left for the night. I was able to talk on the phone with Kalli which made me happy even though she had no idea what was going on. I was pretty wound up that night because I couldn't sleep. I read for awhile and then my friend Amy that works there stopped by after her shift. I think she left sometime after 1AM. I finished my book then finally fell asleep after 2 AM. I woke up around 4 AM freezing with the chills. The nurse came in and I told her I had the chills and would like another blanket. Of course she just said yeah the room is cold and didn't take my temp. But about an hour later the PCA came in and my temp was 101.5 I believe and I said I knew I had a temp! But I didn't get any relief from my fever until the morning nurse came in and I asked for some tylenol.
So day number two at the hospital started out with a chest xray. They were concerned with the fever and wanted to see if I had any infection in my lungs. After that I slept for several hours and didn't really eat lunch I wasn't very hungry. Kurt came and saw me that day after he got off work. It was nice to see him. After he left I fell asleep about 9PM. I woke up at 3 AM sweating like crazy and I had a fever of 102.3 along with a headache again. They gave me something much sooner this time to relieve my fever. And I was able to sleep for a few more hours.
Day three... My mom came to visit I think she got there around 11ish. I found out that I needed to get an Echo on my heart and a CAT Scan to better check my lungs. Oh yeah I forgot to mention that since my counts were so low anytime I left my room I had to where a mask. (not my favorite thing to do). So we spent a couple hours getting those things done and headed back to my room. Oh I also should mention that after the first night I found my breathing to be more difficult and kind of painful when I would try to breath too hard.So they were checking why that was as well. After talking to a pulmonary doctor he determined that my labored breathing was due to the fluids they were giving me getting into my lungs and that I should be taken off the fluids and given a medicine that would basically help my "relieve" the built up water in my body. He said that I would get a dose then and then one in the morning and that they would do another xray a couple hours after that does to see how my chest look. Well I didn't get to go home that day like I had hoped. But Kurt did bring up Kalli to visit so that really made my day! My mom took Kalli for the night and everyone left. I again got another fever of 101.3 I think that night.
Day four.... They stopped giving me my Nuepogen shots today. Said that my white counts looked great and that they were also probably causing the constant headaches I was getting. But anyways I got yet another xray and had to wait to see Dr. Draper and the pulmonary dr. I didn't feel good again and slept for several hours. I had been doing this everyday. So I met with Dr. Draper first and he said that I wasn't going home. Since I wasn't feeling well and still getting fevers. I got really depressed and I was totally bummed. Kurt had taken Kalli to Stricker's Grove so my mom came up to cheer me up and keep me company. Later I spoke with the pulmonary dr and he said that there was still a little something on my xray. So he was going to continue with the meds that night and the next morning and do another xray.
Day five... I did yet another xray and after many hours of anxiously waiting I found out the xray was clear and I was able to go home. That was the best news I had heard in a few weeks. Kurt and Kalli came and picked me up and I was home by 6 PM!
No comments:
Post a Comment