I have had a bad cold for the last 3 days and I'm gonna whine about it.
3 days ago, I woke up for the first time since my chemo, feeling like a normal human!!
I was so happy, but I knew I was going into my 7 day "incubation period" (the 7 days where my white blood cell count is lowest so I am more susceptible to illness and infection) so I thought I'd take it easy. I decided to only go out to walk the dogs and stop for a roast at the small little butcher shop in town.
I drove in and went straight to the butcher shop. No one else shopping, so a good way to avoid catching germs. I picked out my roast and went to find my wallet when I realized I had left it at home (5 miles away!!). I hopped back in the van and realized I was out of gas, well, really low, like it said I had 0km left. I thought, I could call my husband to meet me with money but then I realized, I left my cell phone at home also....MAN!!!!!
I then thought, I could walk into his work and get some money, but seriously, I hadn't planned on seeing anyone I knew that day, so I looked like ultimate S-H-I-T.
I drove to the gas station where I saw a payphone. I found 50 cents (yes, that is what it costs now to use a freaking payphone) and plugged it. Dialed hubby....VOICE MAIL.
Then I realized the germs I must have just exposed myself to on the payphone....YUCK! I ended up making it home and got my wallet, made it back to the butcher and payed for my roast. Along the way, I touched a dirty payphone, a gas pump, a debit machine pin pad and hugged 2 friends...and I got myself a sore throat by dinner time that night.
I decided to call my local oncologist to see what i should do about it. It was tricky knowing if going to the ER with a minor sore throat was the right thing to do or a waste of time. Doc told me to go in. He said "It's better to get swabbed and blood tests now in case it IS something, we will have results before it gets too serious."
Made sense, you see when you have cancer and are in chemo....they stress to you that ANYTHING out of the ordinary, even an ingrown toenail, should require immediate attention as it can quickly turn into infection.
So off I went to emergency. They took my blood to count the white blood cells....which were low, but not a problem. They swabbed my throat, and said I'd have results in a few days and I went home. By bedtime, my throat was SUPER SORE!!! But I kept checking my temp and it was fine, so I went to bed and waited til morning....Doc phoned about 11:00am and asked me how the ER visit went. I told him fine and he said "Did they tell you, your hemoglobin is low?"
I said "No."
He asked me a bunch of questions about my iron and so on and then told me he wanted me in to have a bit more blood work. So I had to go in again and get more blood and an at home stool sample kit. I didn't really understand what all these tests were for, I just trust he is being proactive, and hopefully it is nothing I need to be worried about.
Anyways, it's been 3 days and my sore throat is now a full blown sinus cold!! It sucks!! And my body is trying so hard to fight it but it is lacking in iron and immunity right now, so I just have to let it run it's course. I get to take normal cold meds for it, but nothing really seems to work.
I am blaming it on the payphone.
I thought i was being so safe by just going into town for 2 things, and look what happened.
I should of made it worth my while and gone to the hot springs (germland).
Well, hope this blog proved useful to anyone in chemo who may get a bit of a cold.....I was so worried if I did I would die. HAHA, but nope! Just sitting here like normal with a chapped nose and a roll of toliet paper.
BOOOO. :(
3 days ago, I woke up for the first time since my chemo, feeling like a normal human!!
I was so happy, but I knew I was going into my 7 day "incubation period" (the 7 days where my white blood cell count is lowest so I am more susceptible to illness and infection) so I thought I'd take it easy. I decided to only go out to walk the dogs and stop for a roast at the small little butcher shop in town.
I drove in and went straight to the butcher shop. No one else shopping, so a good way to avoid catching germs. I picked out my roast and went to find my wallet when I realized I had left it at home (5 miles away!!). I hopped back in the van and realized I was out of gas, well, really low, like it said I had 0km left. I thought, I could call my husband to meet me with money but then I realized, I left my cell phone at home also....MAN!!!!!
I then thought, I could walk into his work and get some money, but seriously, I hadn't planned on seeing anyone I knew that day, so I looked like ultimate S-H-I-T.
I drove to the gas station where I saw a payphone. I found 50 cents (yes, that is what it costs now to use a freaking payphone) and plugged it. Dialed hubby....VOICE MAIL.
Then I realized the germs I must have just exposed myself to on the payphone....YUCK! I ended up making it home and got my wallet, made it back to the butcher and payed for my roast. Along the way, I touched a dirty payphone, a gas pump, a debit machine pin pad and hugged 2 friends...and I got myself a sore throat by dinner time that night.
I decided to call my local oncologist to see what i should do about it. It was tricky knowing if going to the ER with a minor sore throat was the right thing to do or a waste of time. Doc told me to go in. He said "It's better to get swabbed and blood tests now in case it IS something, we will have results before it gets too serious."
Made sense, you see when you have cancer and are in chemo....they stress to you that ANYTHING out of the ordinary, even an ingrown toenail, should require immediate attention as it can quickly turn into infection.
So off I went to emergency. They took my blood to count the white blood cells....which were low, but not a problem. They swabbed my throat, and said I'd have results in a few days and I went home. By bedtime, my throat was SUPER SORE!!! But I kept checking my temp and it was fine, so I went to bed and waited til morning....Doc phoned about 11:00am and asked me how the ER visit went. I told him fine and he said "Did they tell you, your hemoglobin is low?"
I said "No."
He asked me a bunch of questions about my iron and so on and then told me he wanted me in to have a bit more blood work. So I had to go in again and get more blood and an at home stool sample kit. I didn't really understand what all these tests were for, I just trust he is being proactive, and hopefully it is nothing I need to be worried about.
Anyways, it's been 3 days and my sore throat is now a full blown sinus cold!! It sucks!! And my body is trying so hard to fight it but it is lacking in iron and immunity right now, so I just have to let it run it's course. I get to take normal cold meds for it, but nothing really seems to work.
I am blaming it on the payphone.
I thought i was being so safe by just going into town for 2 things, and look what happened.
I should of made it worth my while and gone to the hot springs (germland).
Well, hope this blog proved useful to anyone in chemo who may get a bit of a cold.....I was so worried if I did I would die. HAHA, but nope! Just sitting here like normal with a chapped nose and a roll of toliet paper.
BOOOO. :(
1 comment:
Post a Comment