Well, a lot has happened since my last blog a month ago, but I'm going to try to keep this as short as possible. First of all, on the same afternoon of my last blog, March 15, I started running a fever of 100.6. While on chemo if you run a fever over 100.5, you're supposed to call the oncologist on call. So I did, and she she told me to go to the ER. Ugh. So I called one of my amazing co-workers, who was able to babysit on a moment's notice (thank you, JJ!). I was at the ER for over SEVEN hours that night! They did blood work, a urinalysis, a chest X-ray, and found...nothing. No reason for the fever. So after the SEVEN hours, they sent me home with an antibiotic for no reason except that's apparently what they do when your're on chemo and have a fever for no reason.
I still had chemo that Wednesday, March 18, which was my last (and worst) AC treatment. I felt really crappy that weekend and for most of the next week. Luckily for me, room selection at work also started the next week. For those of you who haven't been lucky enough (that's sarcasm, my friends) to experience room selection in college housing, let me boil it down for you with a few quick numbers. 275 spaces in apartments, over 400 students who want to live in the apartments. What does this equal? About 75 students emailing me, the Dean of Students, and the President of the College to express their feelings that "the system is broken," "they got screwed by housing once again," and "they shouldn't be punished because the housing staff screwed things up." Also, 75 parents of students calling to say the same thing and DEMAND that their precious baby get what they want. Newsflash: just because you don't get what you want doesn't mean that someone else screwed up. (Okay, full disclosure, I did screw up two assignments, but they still got into the apartments just not the apartment complex they wanted. And we did have a few issues with our software, but no one actually got screwed over.) Sometimes you just don't get what you want. That's part of life. Why can't these spoiled, entitled students understand that? I have to say, though, that I work with the best, most supportive staff ever. Without them, I don't think I could have survived this.
So about the same time as the shit hit the fan at work, I started getting really bad mouth sores, which is a common side effect of the chemo. At first, it wasn't too bad, so Aris got me some over-the-counter mouthwash and stuff for mouth sores. But by that Friday, March 27, it was so bad that I not only couldn't really eat, but I was in so much pain that I could hardly swallow or talk. I finally called the oncologist on call (who ended up being my regular oncologist). He thought the mouth sores might actually be thrush, and prescribed me some meds for that. Apparently the antibiotics I was on combined with the suppressed immune system from the chemo caused the thrush. And just for the record, thrush SUCKS! The only thing I could really eat for a while was canned peaches...thank god for canned peaches!
The very next day, Saturday March 28, I started running a fever again, this time it was 101.9. So once again I called the oncologist on call (even though I didn't want to). Basically, I told him that I really didn't want to go to the ER especially since the last time I went, they couldn't figure out what was wrong anyway. Well, apparently going to the ER was non-negotiable. He said that it was "a medical emergency," and I was risking kidney failure or sepsis if I didn't go. So fine, I got one of our amazing students (thank you, Abby!) to babysit, again, at a moment's notice. And off Aris and I went again. This time I was only there for six hours. They did the same tests as last time, plus an EKG for some reason. And again, they found...nothing. The only different between this ER visit and the last ER visit was that my blood counts were really low. I discussed the effect that stress at work could be having on my health with the ER doctor, and he said that while stress wouldn't cause a fever, it could cause low blood counts. Super. Due to the low blood counts combined with the fever, they considered admitting me to the hospital this time, but luckily they didn't. They did prescribe an antibiotic again. Oh, and the ER doctor called my oncologist, who said they "they weren't going to mess around anymore" and if I got another fever, he was just going to admit me straight to the hospital. So that was awesome.
Fast forward two nights, and I have ANOTHER fever. This one was 102. I really had no desire to go back to the hospital, so I almost didn't call the oncologist. But then I started throwing up...a lot. So Aris called the oncologist. This time I thought for sure they were going to say that I was going to be admitted. Instead, the oncologist (who I had never seen before) said that it wasn't necessary for me to go to the hospital since I was seeing my regular oncologist in a few days, and just to call if I got worse. Well, that sounded good to me!
Then on Tuesday, I started having problems breathing. I couldn't take a deep breath without tightness in my chest and pain and any exertion made me really short of breath. By Wednesday morning, I felt AWFUL. I was nauseous, tired, and my breathing was worse. So, the bottom line is that there was no chemo on April 1. Instead I got sent for a chest CT. I found out that they were looking for a blood clot in my lungs. Well, that's scary. Luckily, as soon as I got back to the oncologist's office, he told me that it was not a blood clot. So that was a relief. But there was an abnormality on the CT scan, so I got to meet with a pulmonologist the next day and have a bronchoscopy! A bronchoscopy, for those not familiar, is a lovely procedure where they stick a tube down your throat, squirt water into your lung and then take a "sample" to test for infection. The squirting of the water into my lung felt a little like I was drowning, so that was super fun.
By the next Wednesday, my breathing wasn't totally back to normal, but it was much better. Since I had rearranged my schedule thinking that I would have chemo that week, I was hoping to actually have chemo. But no, since I wasn't totally better and my oncologist still didn't know what exactly the problem was, there was no chemo on April 8 either. The good news is that with no chemo for over three weeks, I felt pretty darn good...almost "normal." Last weekend we actually got to enjoy the beautiful weather on both Saturday and Sunday.
On a side note, my awesome sister had a fundraiser for me on Saturday, with a whole bunch of different vendors giving their proceeds to me for my cancer treatment. So a big thank you to her, my mother, all the vendors, and everyone who attended. I really appreciate the support!
This Tuesday, I had a follow-up appointment with the pulmonologist and finally found out what my actual diagnosis is. I have PCP! And as I keep saying, I'm not ON PCP, I HAVE PCP. What is PCP, you ask? Well, it's a lovely form of pneumonia that people with a compromised immune system get. It's common in people with HIV, and people with chemo get it sometimes. Lucky me! Since by this time it had been almost four weeks since my last chemo treatment, my body did what a "normal" body would do, and fought off the PCP. So my breathing was back to normal. However, once I started chemo again, the PCP would likely come back. So I am on meds until the end of chemo to keep the PCP away (hopefully).
I was finally able to have chemo yesterday, my first Taxol treatment. And so far, I have to say that Taxol is awesome! By this time after the AC, I felt queasy, exhausted, and just plain icky. As of right now (knock on wood), I feel...fine, almost normal still. I feel like I didn't have chemo yesterday. Yay! I hope this continues!
Thinking of you -Laura H
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