So after sharing my exciting news about the tumor marker going down another 2,000 points, I ended up in the hospital for 3.5 days being treated for pneumonia.  I think it’s been there for quite some time, even before the inflammation of my lungs from the immunotherapy trial.

Thursday morning (2/9/17) I woke up with a temperature of 101.5. The night before I had chills so bad I couldn’t get warm until I had a blanket, two quilted comforters, and an electric blanket on me. And, I had my fleece housecoat on too. So the temp wasn’t too much of a surprise. I was also coughing up phlegm that wasn’t pretty.

My oncologist has always told me if I have a temp of 100.4 or higher to call them. So Ray called Mass General and they said to take me to the emergency room for a chest X-ray.

So at the start of the 15 inch snowstorm, we headed to Hartford Hospital emergency room. It was 6:45 am. The place was empty! Yeah for us. They got me into a room fairly quickly and then things slowed down.

I was examined by about 10 people! Doctors, residents, nurses, PAs, etc. The doctor did hear something in my left lung that didn’t sound good. So off for a chest X-ray. That didn’t take long at all. They did put me on oxygen and monitors so I was tied to my bed. Every time I needed to go to the bathroom I had to call the nurse to unhook me. I was drinking a lot of water, so that happened a lot.

Around noon they told me I was being admitted as they suspected pneumonia. Hard to confirm by X-ray alone and mentioned I may be sent for a CT scan. Thankfully that never happened.

I got to my room in the Conklin Building on the Harry Gray cancer floor around 1:30. Considering other times spent in the emergency room, that wasn’t too bad. I must say what a beautiful, peaceful floor. All rooms are private with their own bathroom and shower. Flat screen tvs, several chairs, a couch that expands if needed. The bed was actually very comfortable and the ability to adjust it up and down is always fun!

Once in my room I was hooked up to oxygen, heart, etc. monitor and given fluids and antibiotics via IV through my port. At least I could go to the bathroom by myself. Well, I always had to have the IV pole with me, but I’m used to that.

Along with the pneumonia, I was also fighting mouth and lip sores so they continued giving me Tylenol with codiene. They also gave me a saline solution for help with the healing – just swish around inside mouth. This helped a real lot. I also had ‘magic mouthwash’ a few times.  It just numbs it for a while.

My temperature had to come down before they would let me go home and it wasn’t cooperating. Once it did start to cooperate, I ended up with a bout of diarrhea. Oh that was fun! NOT!  Then to make matters worse, they had to test it to make sure it wasn’t a very contagious virus. That took a couple of hours and then they finally gave me Imodium. They only gave me one, so I took one on my own about an hour later. It still continued, so after the allowed four hour wait, I asked for another one and that finally did the trick. I didn’t need that on top of everything else.

Then even though my temperature was down acceptablely, my white blood cell count was low, so they kept me another night. It was good they did because I ended up having some mild chills that day.

Thankfully the white blood count went up Sunday morning. The only thing I’m concerned about are my platelets being lower than they’ve ever been. These are what help our blood clot, so it’s not good to have them low. Hopefully by the time I see Dr. Zhu this Friday they will have gone back up.

So I came home Sunday (2/12/17). I missed the fundraiser dinner for my Aunt Pat’s Town Marshall for East Hartford for the St. Patrick’s Day parade. I was very sad I couldn’t be there. My wonderful friend, Julie Mangiagli, was there and she videoed my aunt’s speech and sent it to me. That was such a thoughtful thing to do and I was elated to get it. It made me feel that I was there for part of it anyhow.

The Hartford Hospital doctor said it was viral pneumonia. He said the antiibiotics can still help with inflammation, which I’m convinced it did. They did not send me home with any additional antibiotics. They pumped quite a lot into me, so I was okay with that.

I’m feeling better. Temp is normal. Coughing is getting less and less. Mouth is getting better. Oxygen levels are acceptable. I don’t have much energy, but I expect that to improve day by day.

Never a dull moment in the life of a cancer patient.

Bile Duct Cancer Messed With the Wrong Woman

Thank you all for your love, support and prayers. You are my strength!