October 25, 2010

The saga

Good day/bad day?: fair to middlin'

So for those of you who wanted the whole story of the last week, here we go! (Wow, it really was a week ago tonight that all this started...)

Last Monday I went into work in the AM, had a headache but was otherwise not bad for a Monday, then decided to call it quits at lunch. I got home, ate, and then tried to nap but couldn't and my headache had come back with a vengence. Long story short, I got sick to my stomach, chilled, achy, couldn't keep anything down. Didn't have a temp over 99 when I checked in the evening, but then it went up to 101 at 10PM and I was instructed to go to the ER. Julie escorted me so Ben could stay home with Olive, and we waited quite a long time to get anywhere, esp long to get my port accessed so I could get some IV nausea and pain meds because my headache was the worst of it all. I finally got some relief and they were ready to send me home when I threw up again--then they decided to admit me and I agreed.

They did a few tests: blood cultures, head CT, chest and abd x-ray, trying to figure it out. Essentially the understanding is that it was likely a virus plus a turn in my reaction to the chemo. Simple enough, couple of days off of chemo, right? Well, just when they'd think they had it under control and we'd be talking about me going home that day, something else would happen--one day it was not keeping food down, then Thurs it was the dreaded blurry vision! So that, with the ongoing headaches, lead to a neurology consult, head MRI, and opthamology consult. The neurologist diagnosed me with "cervicogenic headaches" which are treated with PT exercises and muscle relaxers, and the opthamologist said my lower eyes looked like someone had run sandpaper over them and that could cause the blurry vision, side effect from chemo, and drops will manage it.

So eventually I got home. Still not 100% by a long shot. Sat had the headaches and nausea again, and the headaches persist thought I think the rest is gone today. That, and just weak and depleted with a lot of days of not eating. This is what happens when I wax pensive about when it's going to be me wheeled around to appts! Now I really feel I look like a cancer patient, too. It sucks. And it was boring! And I missed a chance to gather with my family for Gram's memorial.

I'm trying to figure out the bright side of it all but am coming up empty. More appreciative of home? Special thank yous to Kathy & Julie, and of course Ben, for keeping everything else going and not even asking me little questions about the details, for just doing it and figuring it out. Very grateful...

2 comments:

Kathy said...

There were no bright sides--it stunk and it was scary...nonetheless, you made it through AND are feeling good enough to write today...your Gram is smiling about that and so are the rest of us! And the Packers won. This is our first sign that we can all do the harder stuff as well as the far less hard stuff that we have been doing. I'm guessing we can do still harder stuff if we need to because we're tough; especially you, Jenny, and you, Ben, are tough and will make it through all of it. Olive is just plain cute, keeping us all believing and/or pulling our hair out with her imperial pointing finger and endearing food-ful raspberries.

Ben said...

How was I supposed to ask little questions about the details when you were doped into unconsciousness?!?