29th July - A not so good day gets a lot worse

I arrived home after my treatment hoping to get a bit of rest whilst watching the cricket (England were all over the Aussies!).  Unfortunately, within about ten minutes I started to feel unwell.  From out of nowhere I started to experience really bad shivers and a tingling sensation in my fingers and toes and my temperature started to rise.  After around half an hour with the shivers getting worse (I was wearing three layers by this point) my temperature was over 38 and I wasn't in a good way.  Jacki was understandably starting to feel worried at this point and rang the hospital and they told me to come in without delay.  So after only being home for an hour or so, I was being driven back to hospital again.  So much for a nice leisurely afternoon on the sofa!

We arrived at the assessment ward I'd been directed to around 5pm and was seen within 20 minutes.  By this point my temperature had tipped over 40 degrees which clearly wasn't good.  I was assessed by a junior doctor and asked many, many questions about the symptoms I was feeling.  Without much delay I was having my bloods taken again (for the second time in 8 hours) before being hooked-up to an antibiotic drip and then a saline solution.  I was told that in my situation, given my low white blood cell count that the approach was to administer treatment first before necessarily trying to diagnose what the cause was.

I was left to lay down in a treatment room and whilst the shivering had gone I'd developed a really bad headache.  A consultant soon came to examine me and basically asked all the same questions that the first doctor had asked.  I felt like I was undergoing a verbal exam, but I guess it's better to be over diligent and I was thankful of the good care and attention I was getting.  I was informed at this stage that I was going to be kept in for one night at least and whilst this would usually have really disappointed me (who doesn't like being in their own bed), in the state I was in I was just glad that I wouldn't have to face another journey home in the car.  I didn't want to move anywhere.

The nurses kept checking up on me whilst I waited for a bed became available on a ward.  As my headache still hadn't gone I asked if there was anything else I could take in addition to the antibiotics and paracetamol I'd already had.  Thankfully I was given some codine which helped to ease the headache.  I must have started to feel slightly better at this point as I realised that the battery on my phone was getting low and I didn't have a charger with me.  Panic stations began to set in - talk about first world problems!  Jacki (bless her) headed out on a mission to try and buy me a phone charger which ended up involving a trip to a supermarket and then a late night pharmacy.  If only I hadn't been tight stubborn and upgraded my phone earlier, Jacki's mission to find a charger and cable would have been much easier.  Meanwhile, I was left laying in the examination room laying on my back using a sock as a makeshift eye mask to protect myself from the searing rays coming from the strip light directly above my head.

My surroundings for 5 hours.....

After a five hour wait I was finally transferred to the Teenage Cancer Trust ward  at 11.30pm.  Yes, I realise at 36 I might be pushing the boundaries of eligibility for this ward (albeit a lot of twenty year olds apparently use this ward), but the nurses had very kindly arranged this ward for me as it's a much nicer surrounding than some of the other wards (and I may have cheekily asked if there was a ward available that had Sky TV so I could watch the cricket the following day. :-)).  

A nurse on the ward did some further checks and gave me some more antibiotics through my PICC line before I was ready to hit the sack.  After being given a sleeping tablet to help me through the night I nodded off and only awoke to the nurse changing my saline drip and to give me some more antibiotics during the night.

The following morning I woke around 9am and felt so much better.  I was assessed again by a doctor and told that provided my temperature didn't rise again that I'd be able to go home later in the afternoon which obviously cheered me up a lot.  I had a shower and managed a really good breakfast in the canteen - the best I'd eaten in a few days.  Jacki came back to the hospital later in the morning and we spent some time with a family who were with their daughter who was undergoing her last day of chemo so their spirits were high.  One thing I've found really surprising so far during my treatment is how personable and upbeat people are, regardless of their situation or prognosis.  It's really refreshing how people cope with their situations, it may sound corny, but it is really inspiring to see how people, many of whom have a much worse prognosis than I do, mange to deal with their illness with such dignity and good humour.

The communal lounge in the Teenage Cancer Trust ward....

Oh, and yes, I was able to watch the cricket too in the communal lounge which is a brilliant facility.  There's a large TV, pool table, guitars, computers, equipped kitchen - it's such a great facility and a great way to help younger people who are going through a tough time.  Thankfully I wasn't the only one wanting to watch it on the communal TV so it didn't feel too guilty.  Better still, in the early afternoon I received the confirmation that I was able to go home (although it did mean I'd miss Domino's pizza night on the ward) and was going to be prescribed some further oral antibiotics, so after another couple of hours we were on our way and I was back home by late afternoon and was relieved to put the past 24 hours behind me.  I still don't know what brought on the high temperature - was it an infection or a reaction to the Bleomycin drugs?  As yet, I don't know, but hopefully the blood samples will reveal all and I'll be updated at the hospital next week.