Line out & I’m in (Again)

‘I must have been really evil in a past life’ as Kim would say.  Everytime something good happens, something comes along to burst my bubble.  Yesterday was rubbish and I’m back in hospital again. 

The previous night, after our lovely evening, I really struggled to sleep as I had so much pain in my chest and shoulders coming from the line area that I thought there was a high probability the infection was back.  I rang the chemo helpline and arranged to get to hospital early so that they could see me before I went for my chemo.  There were no obvious signs of infection but the line did seem to have moved a little bit so Dr O asked me to go and get a chest x-ray on my way to the ward for chemo.  I popped into x-ray and got seen really quickly then had to go to my usual ward to wait for him and see whether chemo was going ahead.

I had to wait until late morning before he made it over to see me.  He said the line had moved a bit but was still in an okay place so chemo was ordered.  The nurses then tried to flush my lines but they couldn’t get any blood at all to come out.  They can’t use the lines unless the blood does come out first so they tried flushing through a drug that should get everything moving but that didn’t work either. 

As a result, they decided to canulate my hand and not use the line for my chemo.  They had just done this and flushed some saline when I started to shake again.  The shakes got worse so they transferred me to a bed, just as Cathy arrived keep me company – she was in for a bit of a surprise!  My temperature was up over 38 degrees and they put me on oxygen for a little while.  Dr O was called to see me for the third time that day.  As I had stopped shaking and stabilized a bit he said it was time to try taking the line out.  I looked away as he gave it a tug and it came out without too much trouble.  Unfortunately, we suspect the original infection came back, so I’m back on the same antibiotics again, this time through my canular.  They had to take some blood to send down for cultures so that they can tell what the infection is but we probably won’t get the result from that until tomorrow.  Even that was a struggle – my veins were not playing ball yesterday.

I got pushed round on my bed to my home for the next few days – room 8.  They started me off on the antibiotics about 4pm and then left me on a slow saline drip all night.  Kim had a rotten day at work too so didn’t make it here until 8.30 by which time we were both really grouchy.  I slept reasonably well.  Unfortunately this morning I asked to be disconnected from the pump to have a shower.  When I came to be reconnected the line had stopped working so I’ve had to be re-canulated.  My veins are protesting and becoming really tricksy.  I’m also having to do everything with my left hand which makes typing really slow and eating fun!

So now I need to keep the boredom at bay and keep everything crossed that I will be sent home on Saturday as I’ll be gutted if I can’t make the big tea party on Sunday!

Whiling away the hours

So yesterday was supposed to be straightforward – I thought so and so did my consultant as he didn’t plan to see me.  My bloods had been fine, my chemo on time and only one of the drugs to administer.  I had my dressing changed and my lines flushed but one of them didn’t seem to be working (there are two).  Then they started my pre-chemo drugs (anti-sickness, antihisthamine and a stomach settler).  I had all these fine and then I went to the loo.  When I came out I started shaking like when you have the flu really badly and my teeth started chattering which was a little bit scary as I didn’t know what was happening.  I called the nurses through and they said it was either a reaction to one of the pre-chemo drugs or my line was infected.  They made a few attempts to canulate my hand and eventually were able to take some blood through it.  They left me an hour or so and the blood test came back fine so she started a flush through my lines again, but as soon as she did that my temperature raised right up.  She said this meant she was fairly certain it was a line infection and that I would have to be admitted for a course of antibiotics through the line.  Best case scenario is that it clears up and we can continue to use the line, worst case scenario that the line is really infected and cannot be used any more and would need to be pulled out. 

So I got moved from the day ward to a private in-patients room.  Then they did my first drip of antibiotics.  I was okay as they went in, but 20 mins later I got the shakes again, although my temperature was relatively stable.  Kim arrived while this was going on, but luckily 20 mins later I felt okay again.  He brought me enough entertainment to keep me going for a few days – computer, dvds etc.  I slept relatively okay last night and was woken at 6am for my next course of antibiotics.   This time, both lines were working perfectly and I didn’t have any reaction – my temperature is normal so I actually feel just fine. 

It’s a bit frustrating but it could be a lot worse.  Mum and Lauren both visited this afternoon and Kim is visiting this evening.  I know I need to stay in at least 2 more days to finish the course of antibiotics and then I’m hoping they can administer the chemo.  I don’t know how much that affects my schedule going forward but it might mess up some future plans if all my dates get moved.  Still, I guess I should be thankful I am okay now.

As I’m in a private room it’s fine to call – feel free.  If I’m tired or have visitors I’ll keep it short but I’m glad of any distractions.  I’m going to try and persuade the team to let me go out tomorrow for a walk if everything stays stable.  I’ve also asked Kim to bring me some salad as there aren’t nearly enough veggies on the menu although the food does taste okay.

Will update soon.

Amy