Another ER Visit
Today started as a great day. No nausea and the pain seemed to be more under control and tolerable. I had good energy and was able to accomplish a few chores. Jean and Eric came down for a visit in the early afternoon [Jon’s brother and his wife, for those who don’t know]. It was so nice to be able to spend time with them.
By mid-afternoon, after a couple bathroom visits, the pain soared to unbearable at times and barely tolerable at other times. Jon grew concerned and sent an email message to the radiology oncologist at Mayo. Within a short amount of time Traci, the Nurse Practitioner in the Radiology Oncology department called to find out more about what was going on. She suggested that I increase my medication dosage to better manage the pain. She also suggested that I contact Dr. Halfdanarson, my Medical Oncologist to let him know what was going on. Before I could even call Dr. Halfdanarson, Traci called back [this time she talked to Jon] to let us know that she had just spoken to Dr. Halfdanarson and that he was expecting our call. This is another example of why I love the Mayo Clinic! Anyway…fast forward…Jon talked to Dr. Halfdanarson’s nurse who conveyed that Dr. Halfdanarson was with a patient but he wanted me to go to the ER to get some tests done. Because of my chemo they are always concerned with potential fevers and because I use Tylenol to aid in pain management Dr. Halfdanarson wanted to make sure the Tylenol was not masking a fever. So off to the ER we went. The ER was packed but we actually got into a room within a very short amount of time. After that, time started to drag. Once the test results came in the ER doctor called Dr. Halfdanarson to review them with him. The good news is that everything is ok. All my counts are low…but they are at the expected lows. We were in the ER from around 6:15 pm until 11:00.
This made for a long day and for the first time in a long time I felt hunger…I had an appetite and wanted something to eat. That’s a big deal when, for a very long time, food has not sounded good.
Tomorrow (which is now today) will be a better day!!!