Nothing is ever easy....

After having the surgery for the port on Monday, I thought Tuesday would be a breeze. All I had left was the heart scan. This scan (affectionately known as "MUGA") is another one of those where they inject you with radioactivity, make you wait for a while and then put you on one of those "slabs" to take pictures of your insides (specifically here, the heart). So, I headed to the hospital, got my injection and waited my 20 minutes for them to call me back. While waiting, I began to feel very cold; I assumed that I was nervous about the test. I asked them for 2 blankets while I was on the table, and even then, I still felt chilled. It was all I could do to lie perfectly still for 45 minutes.

Shaking as I walked to the car, I considered driving straight to the doctor's office, but I drove home instead. I was sure I had a fever, but I wanted to take my temp to be sure. Sure enough, I was running a temperature of 102. Peachy! I don't think there were enough blankets in the house to get me warm. Michael even plugged in the heating pad and put it under my feet for me. Well, the surgery discharge papers state to call your doctor if you have a temperature of over 102, so Michael called. After verifying that I had been taking the prescribed antibiotic, they advised him to give me some Tylenol and watch to see what happens. And....if the fever was to go back up, over 102, he should take me to ER.

So began our night. Hot one minute, cold the next. Taking Tylenol every 6 hours and checking my temp every few hours. The fever never did get up over 102, but it was close a few times. I really did not want to go to ER. All of this time, I had been assuming that this was an infection from the surgery, but the incision site wasn't red. Sore, but not inflamed. When I was up at 5 this morning, I was nauseous, too, and began to wondering if this might be a flu bug instead. Guess we won't know that unless others get sick!

Here I sit now, in the early afternoon, functioning a bit, thanks to more Tylenol. It's not like I have unlimited time to spare, lying around in bed feeling sick. My hope is that this afflication (whatever it is) will be gone soon and life can continue. Chemo is to begin next week, and I really want to get started. We will meet with the oncologist on Friday and see what she has to say to us about that. In the meantime, I will go back to the couch, with my Sprite and saltines. And take my temperature in an hour or two.

posted by Kim @ 1:07 PM