UPDATED PRAYER REQUESTS
- No more chest pain
- Back pain goes away
- My counts come up – they were low at my appointment yesterday and were low at the hospital today
- That this ugly cancer is SHRINKING
- Any infections go away – I am on an antibiotic right now, just in case
Today started out GREAT! I got up early, saw E off to school, went in my office, sat down, and started working.
When I was diagnosed, I asked both my surgical oncologist and my medical oncologist if I should quit working or continue working. They both said to continue working but maybe cut back my hours. I only work part time, but I talked to my boss and he said work when I can – which right now is the off chemo week, obviously. We have a great team, and they are picking up different areas of my workload. We are pushing through this. I am thankful for such a great place to work.
I was excited to get back to a little bit of normalcy today. I talked on the phone with co-workers, I had a luncheon to go to up at the school…it was going to be a great day.
This morning when I woke up, though, my chest seemed to hurt some. I tried to ignore it and just move on. It continued throughout the morning. I went to the luncheon at the school, came back home, and rested for a bit before I started working again. I noticed that my lower back was hurting too.
I have a list of items you are supposed to call the doctor immediately for. Of course, chest pains is one of them. I finally called the nurse and left a message. I then called Keith who called a friend to come over and check on me. When she got here I was on the phone with a nurse, and she was telling me to go ahead and go to the ER. We grabbed my notebook (I have a notebook I take with me to any doctor visits – with all chemo info, etc…), and off we went. The closest hospital is not far from me. It’s not at the same hospital as the cancer center I go to, but they said just go to the closest.
I walked in, and they got me back immediately. They did an EKG, got an IV going, and got blood work started. Then I was just waiting to go back for a Cat Scan. Keith headed straight to the hospital when he found out that I was going to the ER, so he was there waiting with me and Amy P. They took me back for the CT, but my IV was not working right so they stuck my other arm. It didn’t work…it bruised. I have not even taken the bandage off and looked yet…it bruised as soon as she stuck me and would not work. Someone else came over and was able to fix the initial IV, and they used that. I finally got back to my room, and Keith, Amy P, and I just chatted and waited.
The doctor came in and said things were looking good, and he was ok with me going home after he spoke to my oncologist. I was so thankful that my heart was fine, that there were no blood clots, and that the lower back pain is most likely from a medicine from last week.
A friend brought us dinner tonight. Look at what she wrote on top of the containers. So sweet!
We had to run by another friend’s house to pick up E. She had watched her while I was at the ER. While we were at her house, I picked up the port pillows her mom had made for me. These attach to the seat belt so that it does not rub against my port! I have been using the pillow the hospital sent home with me but am excited about these because they are small, and I can attach to the seat belt and leave it there, probably. I can also keep one in my purse so when I am riding with others.
You can see the front side in the picture on the left and then the back, the picture on the right, has a velcro strip that I will just put around the seat belt. She actually made me quite a few, so I have some to share at chemo with others.
That pretty much sums up most of our day. I am hoping my Wednesday will be a little less eventful!
Thank you for walking this journey with us,
Amanda
Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7
Through Tears And Laughter 