Some Like it Hot

Well - hello there!

I honestly intended to blog throughout the week following my return to chemo.  I can assure you that I felt pretty darn good the day after chemo, and up to around lunchtime the day after that.  Then the Emend wore off and as Andy Taylor (the sherriff, not the hot dude in Duran Duran) used to say "whewwww doggy!"  It took me days to recover.  Just when I started to get my groove back, last Friday I started running a bit of a fever.  I was determined to attend the football game because it was Senior Night, and my son is a senior.  I did, however, convince MDH to drive us up there early so we could grab a parking spot near the fence and I could watch the game from the truck.

Saturday morning when I woke up I felt pretty good.  I had had my belly drained on Friday, so I slept wondrfully, but I was a little achy.  Like you are after having a bit of a fever.  After lunch, I encouraged MDH to go ahead and head out to the deer lease and enjoy opening weekend.  I felt fine!  There was no reason for him to hang around the house.

*sigh*

Seriously, he had been gone less than an hour when I started feeling chilled.  The first time I took my temp, it was 100. something.  I had taken a tylenol, so I gave myself 30 minutes for it to take affect, then took it again.

102.5.  Guess who had to call their hubby to come back home to take her to the hospital?  And guess who has been in the hospital since?

For the record, they ran a ridiculous amount of tests, and never figured out what caused the fever.  It was some kind of infection, because my white cell oount was elevated.  At chemo nadir.  But other than a slight fuzziness seen in an xray behind my heart that *might* have been the start of pneumonia, they haven't found anything.  After 3 1/2 days of 102 - 103 degree fevers, tylenol every six hours, and two types of IV antibiotics, the fever started going down.  As of 10 pm on day 5, I am 19 hours without a fever. I'm hoping I'll make it 24 hours, and they'll spring me tomorrow.

The best part (remember - always try to find a silver lining!) of this ordeal is getting to see so many of the wonderful oncology nurses from last year.  They actually put me in the same room I had last year after my surgery.  Some of the ones I loved have retired or moved on, but a huge number of them are still here, and it's been so much fun to see them again.  I've also met a couple of new ones that I like just as well.  Oncology nurses are awesome.

In addition to all this fun (ha!), this morning, the hair on my head started to fall out.  The first time I went through it, I cried.  This time I just laughed, rinsed my hands off and went on.  Of course, it's so very annoying that it loves to attach itself to my electronics - then I try to wipe it off and end up swiping something off my screen.  I feel for the cleaning ladies - as fast as it seems to be dropping, they might have a rug to sweep up in the morning!

I'm crossing my fingers that this week of being in the hospital doesn't push back my chemo.  Currently all my numbers are in the normal range.  If the fever is over (please please please) and non of the cultures grow any critters, I should be ok.  But the oncologist did say he'd have to see how I'm doing next week.  Keeping my fingers crossed!

So that's what is going on in my world.  I had one of my staff bring me some work that I can do up here during the day because oh.my.hell there is only so much HGTV, Food Channel and SoapNet I can stand to watch.  I've made a point to walk around the entire floor and nurses station before I let myself have anything fun from the patient nutrition room.  I'm doing much better, and I hope to hell I never again run a temp of 103 because that's no freakin fun at all!  Hoping your life has been less eventful!