No Place Like Home

There's no place like home, especially when you haven't been here for a few days. Even more so when those days have been spent in the hospital.

I woke up Wednesday feeling just a little more crummy than usual. Then I started throwing up blood and had to have Brian drive me to the E.R. Thank goodness he was home! We got to the hospital around 11 or 11:30 that morning and by early afternoon I was admitted. I had ruptured some varices in my esophagus (you may remember they came up as a potential issue at the end of December). So on Thursday we did the same scope procedure we had done back then and Dr. Sokhi banded them off to stop/prevent further bleeding. It left me with some sharp pains just below my sternum.

In addition, my breathing had become labored again. Even though they drew a litre of fluid off my lungs last Thursday (the 15th) there was more fluid built up again. This time they got 2 1/2 litres! The doctor said it's the most he's ever drawn. If the fluid comes back again they will have to do a more involved surgical procedure that involves a chest tube and the injection of some talc to sort of close off the space that allows the fluid to build. We'll cross that bridge if/when we come to it.

I was finally discharged from the hospital this morning (Sunday, the 25th). It was a long several days and my room seemed to shrink by the hour. All seems to be fairly ok right now though. Please keep praying that it remains that way and that this is the end of the fluid build-up. The chemo can potentially keep it from coming back.

I'm scheduled for shots each day again this week and for another chemo treatment on Wednesday. I will say that it was reassuring to see a different oncologist who agrees with all that Dr. K is doing. I trust Dr. K's judgment and his decisions, but there's no harm in hearing the same kinds of things from other doctors. In this case it was from my original oncologist who first treated me back in 2001. He happened to be the doctor on call this weekend.

I guess that's all for now. Thank you for the many prayers, visitors, flowers, hugs, cards, gifts, poems and drawings! And thank you for all of the love!!