A&E again

I’m safely home again after yet another brief sojourn in hospital. As a few weeks ago, on Friday I got increasingly cold & shivery. By mid-afternoon I was becoming aware I was having increasing difficulty with my speech & memory. I checked my temperature 37.9. We were expecting someone to come to clear a blocked drain so I thought I’d wait a bit until he had come & gone. I continued to feel even colder. As soon as the drain was clear I checked my temperature again – 38.6. I concluded I’d best ring the emergency helpline. Sure enough they insisted I went to A&E with an overnight bag.

 

Once more I had further tests & X-rays for just about everything. Conclusion – chemo induced fever. We’d arrived at the hospital around 6pm. This time the Fox had concluded, after last time, that, if I didn’t come out almost immediately he might as well make his way home & get some food for himself.

 

So around 8pm I was told I could go home as my temperature had gone down. I hastily got dressed – I’d had to wear a gown for the X-ray - & phoned the Fox to come & collect me. I waited near the door. The doctor who’d been treating me, saw me waiting & decided to once more check my temperature. It had soared once more to 38.4. There was no way she was going to let me out with that sort of temperature. Instead she organised a bed on one of the wards. As the Fox came through into the A&E waiting room I hastily told him I was sorry but I was going to be staying overnight after all.

 

By this time I’d had some antibiotics & fluids. Throughout the night a nurse came regularly to check my blood pressure, temperature, pulse etc. By 3am my blood pressure was almost non-existent. She hastily got me on more antibiotics as well as paracetamol to bring down my temperature.

 

Saturday arrived. Mid-morning another bag of antibiotics was fed into my PICC line. Finally the doctor arrived about lunchtime. Yes I could go home but he was giving me a course of antibiotics to have for 5 more days 3 times a day.

 

I have to confess I think this variety of chemo isn’t suiting me. The first week of the first cycle had the same effect on me as this first week of the second cycle. On top of which my one week off between cycles had had to be increased to two weeks as my bloods were so poor. Unless I can take the chemo on a regular basis I cannot believe it stands much chance of being effective. I certainly don’t want to spend half my time rushing off to A&E & spending the night in hospital.

 

I’m now supposed to be “liaising with my oncology nurse” about my next step. I’m not quite sure what that means. I thought I’d have my bloods & PICC line-care done by the district nurse today, then ring the hospital on Tuesday unless they’ve rung me first.