A Rough Weekend
This weekend was quite the adventure. Everything started falling apart Friday evening after work...
Friday morning I went to see the infectious disease specialist that my oncologist had referred me to. It was a two hour appointment going over my history since I was diagnosed with NHL. Basically the fellow and attending were trying to think of any possible reasoning behind my fevers. There were two things that they were concerned about - a recurrence of aspergillus in my lungs (fungal infection) and/or an infection in my Hickman catheter.
I had stopped taking Voriconazole (anti-fungal drug) a few weeks ago, because I don't like taking it and it's hard on your liver. Well little did I know that all the work we're doing on the house (dust, mold) increases my chances of getting aspergillus and I should NOT have gone off of it. I was instructed to take it again immediately starting that night. In addition, they scheduled a head/chest CT to see if there is any change in my lungs which could indicate a recurrence of aspergillus. If that is the case, I will have to go back on a daily anti-fungal medication that is administered IV. I would have to do it myself once a day as I did before the last time I was admitted to Stanford. The head part of the CT is to see if I have some type of sinus infection since my nose is constantly running. Although unlikely, this could also cause fevers. A set of blood cultures and many other blood tests were also ordered to eliminate some other possibilities for the fevers. I was told I had to go back that evening for all the blood work.
Friday after work I was back at Stanford. The nurse drew four huge vials of blood (both from my catheter and arm) for the cultures and about 8-10 small vials for the remainder tests. Not sure how I had any blood left. I was told I would be able to get the results by this Tuesday.
About an hour after having the blood drawn, I started experiencing major chills/rigors. I took Tylenol since I could anticipate a fever approaching. By midnight, my temperature was above 38.0C and climbing. We had to wake up at 3:30am to take my dad to Oakland airport and then to drive to LA to pick up Francesca, so I knew it was going to be tough. By 2am my fever was 39.4C (approx 103F) and I was feeling VERY miserable. I had been taking Tylenol every 4 hours and the fevers were not going down. Regardless, I got up at the time necessary and got ready for our long day. We re-evaluated after dropping my dad off at the airport and decided to take the chance and drive down to LA. I slept most of the way down in the car while Chris drove and fortunately my temperature started to go down. We arrived in LA around 11am, picked up Francesca at 1:30pm, were on our way back home at 3pm, and got home around 8pm. I was feeling well enough by the afternoon to drive most of the way home.
Saturday night I continued to have high fevers, however they were controlled by the Tylenol. The lack of sleep came from our first night with Francesca...oh the joy of having a puppy in the house again. I took one last dose of Tylenol Sunday morning around 6am and as of this evening I haven't had to take any again. I'm hoping that starting back on the Voriconazole is helping. The last thing I want is my Hickman to be pulled for unnecessary reasons.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, I'm scheduled to have my regular labs drawn to continue with chemo. Wednesday I'll see my oncologist and start back my two week of regimen of Procarbazine. No word yet on what day the CT will be.
Friday morning I went to see the infectious disease specialist that my oncologist had referred me to. It was a two hour appointment going over my history since I was diagnosed with NHL. Basically the fellow and attending were trying to think of any possible reasoning behind my fevers. There were two things that they were concerned about - a recurrence of aspergillus in my lungs (fungal infection) and/or an infection in my Hickman catheter.
I had stopped taking Voriconazole (anti-fungal drug) a few weeks ago, because I don't like taking it and it's hard on your liver. Well little did I know that all the work we're doing on the house (dust, mold) increases my chances of getting aspergillus and I should NOT have gone off of it. I was instructed to take it again immediately starting that night. In addition, they scheduled a head/chest CT to see if there is any change in my lungs which could indicate a recurrence of aspergillus. If that is the case, I will have to go back on a daily anti-fungal medication that is administered IV. I would have to do it myself once a day as I did before the last time I was admitted to Stanford. The head part of the CT is to see if I have some type of sinus infection since my nose is constantly running. Although unlikely, this could also cause fevers. A set of blood cultures and many other blood tests were also ordered to eliminate some other possibilities for the fevers. I was told I had to go back that evening for all the blood work.
Friday after work I was back at Stanford. The nurse drew four huge vials of blood (both from my catheter and arm) for the cultures and about 8-10 small vials for the remainder tests. Not sure how I had any blood left. I was told I would be able to get the results by this Tuesday.
About an hour after having the blood drawn, I started experiencing major chills/rigors. I took Tylenol since I could anticipate a fever approaching. By midnight, my temperature was above 38.0C and climbing. We had to wake up at 3:30am to take my dad to Oakland airport and then to drive to LA to pick up Francesca, so I knew it was going to be tough. By 2am my fever was 39.4C (approx 103F) and I was feeling VERY miserable. I had been taking Tylenol every 4 hours and the fevers were not going down. Regardless, I got up at the time necessary and got ready for our long day. We re-evaluated after dropping my dad off at the airport and decided to take the chance and drive down to LA. I slept most of the way down in the car while Chris drove and fortunately my temperature started to go down. We arrived in LA around 11am, picked up Francesca at 1:30pm, were on our way back home at 3pm, and got home around 8pm. I was feeling well enough by the afternoon to drive most of the way home.
Saturday night I continued to have high fevers, however they were controlled by the Tylenol. The lack of sleep came from our first night with Francesca...oh the joy of having a puppy in the house again. I took one last dose of Tylenol Sunday morning around 6am and as of this evening I haven't had to take any again. I'm hoping that starting back on the Voriconazole is helping. The last thing I want is my Hickman to be pulled for unnecessary reasons.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, I'm scheduled to have my regular labs drawn to continue with chemo. Wednesday I'll see my oncologist and start back my two week of regimen of Procarbazine. No word yet on what day the CT will be.
posted by Erika @ 10:30 PM
1 Comments:
At 7:48 AM,
Anonymous said…
Hi Erica, Hope you are feeling better and the fevers are coming down. Eat some watermelon, that should cool you down, heard it reduces fevers naturally. Take care. Love, Jen Yen
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