Blood Clots

So since getting the baby bottle infusor off last Sunday, I kept expecting to start feeling better. Instead the weakness seemed to carry on. Just walking a few steps left me panting. All I could do was lie in bed, not sleeping, I was all slept out, but unable to even lie on the couch & focus on TV. So frustrating!

Finally on Wednesday 15th February I had my first doctor's appointment with my new family doctor, the super-amazing-wonderful Dr. Kelly. He's amazing, so compassionate, a true old-fashioned family doctor, and I love him already. He told me to keep my spirits up, to keep fighting. Also said really nice things about my oncologist Dr. Katakkar. It's nice to have a new face on my health-care team.

I felt bad during the appointment because just sitting in a chair upright having a conversation was more than I could really handle. So after the appointment I asked Sterling to take me into the cancer centre. I could barely walk from from the parking lot in. One look at me & they had me in a bed, running blood tests & IV fluids. I apologized for bothering them, and they threatened to kick my ass. They said it's always the ones like me who don't want to be a bother who hold out longer then they should before breaking down & coming in. The initial theory because of how pale & weak I was was that I was severely anemic & needed a blood transfusion. So they did the bloodwork & ran IV fluids because in spite of my best efforts I was definitely dehydrated, causing my pulse to race in the 110-120 range. But the blood tests came back negative, that wasn't the problem. So then Dr. Fibich, saying "it's unlikely but I want to be thorough" sent me for a CT scan, where he found what he suspected: blood clots in my lungs. I guess this is very common in cancer patients, developing blood clots. That's why I was so short of breath all the time.

After the IV fluids and the CT scan discovery, they gave me an injection of warfarin (blood thinner) and scheduled an appointment the next day for Sterling & I to learn to give the subcutaneous injections ourselves (once a day, into my belly fat).

So that's what happened. Today Thursday 16th February we went into IV Therapy where they taught Sterling to do the injections, since I'm too chicken. It's pretty simple, especially since he as previously trained to give the neupogen shots I needed for a week that one round of chemo. After that it was back over to the cancer centre for more followup bloodwork & IV fluids; they sent me home around noon.

We stopped at London Drugs to pick up the first weeks worth of shots. Once again thank gods for my drug plan - the deductible for a month's supply was going to be $800+! Instead it's all covered.

I had a bit of a lie-down again once we got home tonight, but am starting to feel better. Hopefully this new treatment of shots will have me back on the mend. Thank you everyone as always for your warm thoughts & prayers, they keep me going when things are darkest.