They would never admit me just for a nosebleed

I am back in the hospital again. I am at North Memorial this time. Last night I had a bloody nose that would not stop so after 3 hours I went to the Emergency Room. This is from the blood thinners they have me on. They have given me bags of Plasma and vitamin K to reverse the blood thinner. I don't even want to talk about the things they did or left in my nose. The bleeding still hasn't totally stopped. They are also going to give me a unit of blood. My hemoglobin has dropped to 7 now that I have lost so much blood. I should get out Thursday or Friday.

Running out of options

I met with my oncologist today. We went over my latest scan and the lung tumors are still growing. The Gemzar didn't do anything. The largest tumor was 5cm two months ago and now it is 5.5 cm. I think thats growing fast - the doc says it really isn't fast. We can try more chemo....radiation or surgery really isn't an option. We talked about Abraxane. I am going to think about it for a few weeks. I just want to feel good for a little bit.

I had the Vena Cava filter put in today. The procedure only took 20 minutes, but we were at the hospital for 5 hours. There was no pain during or after, so I'm not going to complain.

Ultrasound reveals large clot

I had the ultrasound on my leg today. The blood clot goes from my knee to groin. It sounds huge, but I guess this is not unusual. My doctor thinks I should get a Vena Cava filter put in. They would insert the filter above the clot, so it could catch anything that breaks off. I already have two pieces in my lungs already, so it's a good idea.

I am going to call in the morning to schedule. My doctor thinks they might be able to get me in Friday. I am only mildly terrified to have this done. You are awake for the procedure, and they access the vein through your groin. In the meantime every one is telling me to "take it easy".

New problem found on my CT scan

I went in this afternoon for a regular re staging scan. The phone was already ringing when we got home. It was my oncologist calling - that can't be good. He said the radiologist found a problem on the scan. I have a blood clot in my lung. It turns out is also related to my puffy foot. He asked me if I was having pain anywhere and I told his about the back of my knee hurting for awhile(I thought it was related to my weak leg muscles) and the puffy foot that showed up Sunday. He said that it is likely the original clot is located there and some broke off and ended up in my lung. The puffy foot would be lymphdema caused by the clot pushing on the lymph nodes. They are going to do an ultrasound to confirm this.

The treatment is to be on blood thinners (probably forever!!). I will be giving myself injections twice a day, so the pills have time to start working(5 days). He also said I should avoid using that leg too much for a couple of days. I almost afraid to move. I'm not sure if I should go to work tommorow. I actually feel good.

Puffy foot

I have a puffy foot. I was watching TV and glanced down at my foot and top was puffed up about an inch. It doesn't hurt. I think it is most likely lymphodema in my leg. Great another medical problem.

I finally got my red cells today. I was at the clinic all day. I was able to get a room with a bed, so I slept all day. It was great - an uninterrupted nap. I feel better already. I was so weak this morning that I could barely walk from the car to the clinic. It's a good thing that I had someone to drive me.

no chemo again

I went in for chemo today and found out that my platelets were too low. My hemoglobin is down to 7.1 even with the Arenesp shot. I am so tired. They finally agreed to give me some red cells. I have to go over to Regions for those. They cannot get me in until Wednesday. That's terrible.

I am still having diarrhea and can't figure out the cause. I have Immodium for breakfast and then don't eat or drink anything until I get home. The docs don't think it's GVHD.

More chemo

I started my second cycle of Gemzar today. My first cycle was not too successful. I only had two of the three doses because my blood counts were knocked down so low. Today they did give me an Aranesp shot to try to keep my red count up. I had a scan at the end of Feb and it show the mets are still growing (by millimeters). This scan was required by the study. I will be scanned in early April to see if the Gemzar is doing anything.

I asked the doc what drug he thought we should try next if Gemzar doesn't work. He did not have a definite answer - maybe Abraxane. I'm not sure what I think would be best either. I think I have had like 11 different drugs/combos and none have worked. He did mention the option of stopping treatment - I'm not sure if I'm ready for that yet.

CMV is negative!

I just got the news that my CMV is negative! I can stop taking the Ganciclovir. The Ganciclovir is is hard on the blood counts so in combination with the Gemzar is was not good. I hoping that now that I'm almost off the Cyclosporine these CMV problems will stop.

I have actually been feeling great this week. I worked more than 40 hours which helped a bit with the time I had to take off last week. I think tapering off the Cyclosporine is really helping and when my CMV level goes up I feel crappy also.

Home again!

I was discharged today. They are giving 5 more days of oral antibiotics although the tests did not show anything and I do not have pneumonia. I was released just in time to rush over for mt CT scan at the speciality center. It took longer than usual, so I did not make it into work today. I shouldn't have a problem making it there tomorrow.

I had some real crappy care in the hospital. They had stopped the Budesonide and claimed an increased dose of the hydro cortisone was the reason. After I had been in the hospital for a couple days the pharmacist came to visit and said the only reason the Budesonide was stopped is that they did not have that drug available at the hospital (what!!) so he had me take my own for the rest of the time that I was there.

Still in the hospital

I'm feeling better today. Nothing has turned up on the tests/cultures. I was finally able to give a stool sample this morning, so they will run that today. I haven't seen my labs - they say they are "ok" regarding the liver tests. The Internal medicine doc thought he saw some pneumonia on my CT, but the ID doc said no that it was some fluid that I have on the left side from the mets. I guess we will see what the radiologist says.

Back in the hospital

I was admitted to Regions yesterday with a 103 fever. They are running tests, but haven't found anything yet. The fever went away with tylenol. I am on three different antibiotics.

This CMV will not go away

My CMV level has been low positive for the past three weeks. That might explain some the diarrhea issues that I have been having. They are going to put me back on the Ganciclovir for at least two weeks. The good thing is that I can do it myself at home. The bad thing is the cost - my insurance only pays 80 percent and the drug is expensive and the drug is rough on my blood counts (as will be the Gemzar).

My adrenal glands are not working

The test results came back today and my Adrenal glands are not working. This does explain the fatigue - or some of the fatigue that I am having. They have put me on Hydrocortisone. This isn't a high dose so I shouldn't have any bad side effects. Unfortunately there is no was to know how long I will have to be on this and if my Adrenal lands will start working again. It was due to the Prednisone that they stopped working.

Started Gemzar today

I started chemo again. We are trying Gemzar alone. It is possible that now that I have have the transplant my cancer may respond to this drug. In 2006 I took Gemzar with Navelbine. It was tough on my blood counts and took me 6 month to get through 4 cycles. It was right after this that I had a routine scan and my lung mets were found - so we don't think it worked the first time. We will try two cycles and re scan to see if it did anything. The people at NIH/NCI have seen some positive response with this drug post transplant.

slight fever today

I had a slight fever today 101 - 102. I called the doctor this morning, but it took several hours (and an email to my doc) to get a response. I have a very mild headache. I had a little bit of diarrhea early this morning. I went in for my CT scan at 1:30pm at the specialty center in St. Paul. They were then able to get me in to see a doc in St. Paul. My fever was gone by the time that I got there (3pm). They looked me over and sent me home. All these medical appointments are getting annoying.