I've been around... off and on... But, there have been some bumps in the road.

The first bump happened a week after my last post... I spiked a fever Saturday morning of Labor Day weekend (first weekend in September - we get Monday as a Holiday), so I had to go to the Emergency Room (ER) for evaluation... By the time I got there, it had climbed from 101.6 to 102.7F (that's 38.7 to 39.3 for those of you not metric challenged like so many of us in the USA). Also, my pulse was about 170... and my blood oxygen percent was less than 90... Needless to say, they decided to admit me... I ended up in the hospital until the following Saturday... This was the week I was supposed to have my second round of Chemo... Needles to say, it didn't happen. Oh, what was wrong with me? I had PCP. I don't recommend it. Not fun. After I got out, I was on heavy antibiotics for another 2 1/2 weeks.

At this point, I was still working hard, and taking care of my family (seems they all came down with variations of bronchitis, a particularly viscous one - that took multiple antibiotics to get controlled/beat up. I managed to Avoid getting this!

This past Thursday I resumed my chemo. All went well. :-) With chemo... However, about 6pm, I started getting another fever. I took Ibuprofen, in hopes of heading things off... Sadly, nope. It got over 101 (38.3C) again, and I called my doc as directed. Turns out his cell phone had turned itself off... His service eventually called his house phone. Meanwhile my fever got to 102.3 (39.1C) and then broke. It was down to 101.4 (38.6) when he called and told me to go to the ER...

I'm really beginning to dislike that place.

I was feeling much better when I got there. Able to drive myself even. But, they ran a bunch of test, and I got nauseous and eventually vomited (not a quick and it's over kind - no, it was several dozen heaves)... I felt much better when it was over... But that, combined with some lab results made them decide to keep me "over night" for evaluation... Well, over night I vomited a 2nd time (same kinda series heaving of bile) in the ER, before they got a bed in a private room for me. They started me on IV Antibiotics, too... And, before morning - in my room, a third bout of vomiting... Though that was the end of that. (YEAH. I hate vomiting!) Given that, and other things, they figured I probably had C-Dif, and started treating that... While effectively putting me in quarantine... People coming in the room had to wear masks/gloves and take other precautions... Eventually, they got a stool sample to check, but by that time I'd been on antibiotics long enough that even the negative wasn't conclusive. *sighs* Got a cat scan of my abdomen... No smoking guns (but they did tell me I now have several gall stones, not just A gall stone. *sighs*

They did a LOT of blood cultures, and nothing bad was growing there. That's good news, with my Leukemia, I really do NOT need anything else mucking things up there.

But, they did see that my creatin level was elevated (one doc said that it's possible the elevation was caused by all the junk they're pumping through my liver right now...), so my nephrologist (that's a kidney/liver specialist) was called in for a consult... I suspect she's the one that asked for the ultrasound. Oh, I didn't mention that? Well, there's a good reason. I've not had it yet. They came up about lunch time (I'd just finished eating. SOLID FOOD. Oh, didn't I tell I'd been on a clear liquid diet up to then...) and were upset I'd eaten... So, now it's no food after midnight, and I'll get it in the morning. They're so much fun...

We'll see what happens next. I'd really like to get relatively healthy so I can FINISH my chemo and get this leukemia into remission!

Meanwhile, I'm still very up beat. This time last year - or any of the years before then - I suspect I'd not be anywhere near as positive. Part of it is how much better I feel about myself. I feel like I have a real future ahead of me, and these issues are just something to get through. Yes, I'm still getting sir'd way more than I'd like. But, I have to deal with that. Comes with having a guy's face and shoulders, I suspect... One, I expect to eventually be able to deal with... The other (the shoulders) I think I'm stuck with them. :-) (Oh, and I don't know about any of you, but one bra strap always wants to slip off - the one on my LEFT shoulder. It doesn't matter how tight I make things over there, it slowly slides down. The right - it almost NEVER slips off, if I put it on right to begin with. *sighs* Such little things are so aggravating. LOL)

Oh, that drug allergy I mentioned last time? We still think they got the right drug, but the rash took the whole week I was in the hospital with PCP before the itching went away... About a week later, I started MOLTING. That's what it felt like anyway... Wherever the rash had been the worst, my surface layer of skin was peeling... Like sunburn peeling, without the burn. Lotion helped, a little, but I figure most of the help was the rubbing that scraped off dead skin. Showers helped there too... Still some peeling going on. *sighs*

Thanks for reading. Hope the tedious details weren't too booring.

Annette