Hospital Hiatus

Last Thursday when my fever hit 100.5, I called the oncologist as I had been told to do. She immediately said to head to the ER. By the time I got there, I was 101.6, shivering and sweating at the same time. The ER was waiting for me, so I did not have to wait at all. They put a mask on me since my immune system was compromised. The ER doctor was great and immediately diagnosed the infection as Bartholin Cysts. I had never heard of them before, but I googled them last night when I got home. That was quite useful, and I learned a lot. I'm not going to go into all the gory details about it here on the blog, but anyone who is interested can do the same google search I did and can learn everything.

These are not uncommon in women, although one search said only about 2% of all women experience them. I usually get one about once a year, yet I never knew what it was called or what was causing it. The first time was in my very early 20s. I have never had any particular medical intervention, and they usually resolve themselves in 6 or 7 days. Apparently they are more common in younger women, but I have had them all my life. The ER doctor said they do sometime treat women in the ER for these by lancing and draining them. OUCH. I did NOT want them doing that to me Thursday night, and fortunately they agreed.

Two weeks ago I knew I was getting one, so I told the oncologist at my regular check up. She prescribed Keflex, an antibiotic, three pills in the morning and three more at night. I did that for 7 days, and the original one shrunk; however, right at the end of the antibiotic run, I knew another one was starting. By Wednesday, the new one was growing by leaps and bounds. By Thursday it was the biggest, most monstrous abscess I had ever had. It hurt to sit or walk. When the fever started up around 7:30 p.m. that night, I just knew that was the source. I told the ER right away, and they were thankful. They said finding the source of the infection when chemo patients come in with fevers is often the hardest part, so because I could tell them right away where the infection was saved a lot of time.

Because I have a port, naturally, they wanted to access that for blood draws and IVs, but the ER nurse admitted he had not had much experience accessing ports, so I asked for someone more experienced. It has even caused some difficulties to the chemo center nurses who do it all the time, so I did not want an inexperienced person trying. He was gracious about it, and he sent in another nurse. They iced me up and the other nurse punctured it and missed. OUCH. Then she tried again, ouch, but although she felt she was "in", there was no blood return. Even I know that getting a blood return is a huge deal, yet she tried to administer saline through it anyway. OUCH! It stung like crazy, and I KNEW that wasn't right. I made her take it out. Next they set an IV on the back of my hand, but even that was difficult. OUCH, some more. By then I had been about an hour involved in these attempts. Cindy, my wonderful sister, had been holding my hand steadily throughout. Since Mark was on the autotrain at the time returning from Florida, I was so grateful that Cindy was home to drive me there and stay with me through the whole thing. Sadly, about 1:30 in the morning, with the fever still raging and sweat rolling down my body, I just lost it. I was tired, shaky, sweaty, feverish, and scared. I sobbed uncontrollably for a few minutes as they continued to hurt my hand trying to get that IV set.

At long last, it was IN. They gave me saline, drew blood from my arm, and finally gave me some Tylenol. At last the fever started to abate and I relaxed. It was after 2 a.m. Whew!

The ER doctor talked about lancing the abscess, but again she decided against it due to the chemo situation. I was admitted to the oncology ward about 3 a.m. Even at that point, I thought it would just be over night. Friday I saw my oncologist and two other doctors. They took a swab to test for MRSA, but it came back negative, Thank God!! The infectious disease doctors decided to run strong antibiotics by IV for 48 to 72 hours to see if it responded. They told me that I would not go home before Monday, so I just settled in to relax for a weekend in the hospital.

Luckily I am easily amused, and I did not get bored at all. I had TV, radio, puzzle books, novels, phone calls, and visitors. The nurses and med techs are always coming in and out, too. There was little time to rest! Ha Ha!! I want to send a big thank you out to Cindy, Mark, Denise, Kip, Saul, and Phyllis for visiting me, bringing snacks, and playing games. It was wonderful!

The antibiotics continued to shrink the cyst, so Monday they told me one more night and I'd go home Tuesday. They cancelled my now irrelevant appointment at the chemo center for blood work and a doctor's visit, since those things were routinely happening in the hospital. Since I knew I was leaving Tuesday and the chemo was going on as scheduled the next day (today at 1:30), I begged them to let the port stay accessed. I could not see having it yanked out on Tuesday just to get re-punctured on Wednesday. Although this was against the hospital's usual rules, my doctor was able to have them make an exception. The nurse taped it all up with plastic bandages, and I left about 12:30 yesterday afternoon. YAY!! It was like getting out of jail!

Mark and I drove to the Laurel Pharmacy to get my new prescription for Keflex, one pill a day four times a day for 10 days, and my Emend for nausea to take before the chemo today. Mark also had a prescription to get. We did grocery shopping and a few other errands, then we made it home by 5:30 p.m. I was EXHAUSTED since I had literally done nothing but lay in bed for five straight days, except for short trips to the bathroom with my IV pole in tow.

The very BEST thing was taking a hot shower when I got home. Never underestimate the restorative powers of a long, hot shower!! That felt amazing.

I am now so glad that I went with my instincts on the trip to Florida. I had been warned that these fevers/infections could happen. Timing is everything! Had I gone with Mark, I would have been trapped in the autotrain Thursday night without any way to relieve the fever. The situation could have become much more serious if that had been the case. Mark did have a great trip, however, and he was able to visit the Magic Kingdom and Epcot as well as get his car repaired. He brought me back a new stuffed bear, Duffy. This is a character from the Disney park in Tokyo, and he is now making appearances at Epcot. When Mark presented me with the bear on Friday, I just broke down in tears. I got very emotional. Not only was the bear super-adorable, but it just seemed to symbolize Mark's deep love and concern for me. He knew I would need something soft and cuddly to keep with me. I just couldn't keep the tears from flowing. Mark, you are awesome. We all knew that anyway, but here is just another example of it. You are the BBBC; the Best Breast Cancer Husband.

I also want to thank everyone for their comments on the blog, Facebook postings, and emails. Every day Mark would read them to me aloud on the phone, so I was kept up to date. It was a real morale booster each day. I thank Mark also for keeping the postings up to date for everyone.

This was quite an ordeal, and it's not entirely behind me. The cyst has not healed up completely yet. The hospital bed was very comfortable with constant motion to prevent bedsores, but it also provided support in such a way that I had no discomfort as long as I was in the bed. Now that I'm home sitting on regular chairs, even padded chairs, I can feel the cyst irritating me. I hope that the constant pressures and irritation do not interfere with the healing process. I also hope the oral meds will continue to do the work that the IV antibiotics started. I have learned more about the chemo process, also. I did not realize that the most dangerous time is 7 to 10 days AFTER the infusion. Because I feel sick the first four days, I just thought that was when it was doing the most work. No, the blood count is lowest 7 to 10 days later. The most healthy cells have been killed by that point, and that is when the body is most vulnerable to infection. It's when I FEEL the best, and yet I'm actually in the most danger for infection. In fact, this is exactly when the cyst flared up so badly. Interesting. I'm always learning more and more about this process. It's a full time job fighting cancer.