A Day At The Emergency Room

Yesterday was not a good day for me. As you know I had my 6Th chemo treatment this past Wednesday. On Thursday, Ryan gave me my Neulasta shot which helps boost my white blood cells. Neulasta is very powerful. I have had the Neulasta shot six times now and each time I have experienced achy muscles and bone pain. The Neulasta is extremely hard on my body after Taxol because Taxol also causes bone pain.

Thursday evening I started getting some body aches. When I woke up Friday morning I was so sore and in such pain, I could barely move. I had what felt like a migraine and was running a fever. When Ryan and I realized that I wasn't getting any better, we called Dr. Ellis. He suggested that I go to the Emergency Room because of the fever. Unfortunately, I have spent a lot of time in the Emergency Room over the past year and know firsthand how unpleasant it can be. However, if you are a chemo patient, that changes everything. When we arrived, Ryan immediately told them that we could not sit in the waiting room and had to be seen right away. He also mentioned that I was undergoing chemo. However, it wouldn't have taken a genius to figure that one out seeing that I had on my little hat and a face mask. Some might have thought I was dressed up for Halloween just a little to early!

We were immediately taken to a room where they began to do blood work. I also had a chest X-ray to rule-out pneumonia. Luckily, the X-ray and all the blood work came back normal......except for my white blood cells. They were at an extremely elevated level because of the Neulasta. Therefore, my body thought it was trying to fight off an infection somewhere and that is why I developed the fever. After a couple of Tylenol and some anti-nausea meds they sent me home. I was a little disappointed that I had to go all the way to the ER just for some Tylenol. On the other hand, they did do an X-ray and knowing that it was clear and everything looked good made the trip well worth it.

Today I am spending lots of time resting. Charley is spending the weekend at her grandparents which is hard on Ryan and I because we miss her so much. However, we know that she is being well taken care of. I would ask that you pray for me and that the last two treatments would be easier on my body. Also, please pray for the health of our entire family and Charley's grandparents. I have been so fortunate to have not gotten a "bug" throughout this entire process. We need everyone to stay healthy so that we can continue to move forward and eventually put it all behind us! Thank you and God Bless!