ER

Started feeling really punky yesterday afternoon, nauseous and had the chills. Felt like I had a fever, so I took my temperature (somehow we've amassed four thermometers, none of which actually agree with each other) and came up with a consensus reading of about 100.8, well over the limit (100.2) to call the doc. We got hold of the on-call doctor at the cancer center at CCH and I was told to go to the emergency room right away. We were there about two hours, during which they checked my vital signs, did blood work, urinalysis, a chest X-ray and nose swab for flu. The particular concerns are things like low white blood cell and platelet counts, since chemo suppresses the immune system and does a number on healthy cells as well as cancer cells. And infection is also a concern. Thankfully, the numbers were all good and other tests were negative. Also, the chest X-ray showed shrinkage of the lymphoma from the last X-ray, so the chemo seems to be working. I had kind of a rough night last night, up and down all night, fever in the 100+ range. Been mostly sleeping today, some nausea and chills, not eating a lot, but the fever is down. Taking Tylenol for the fever and an anti-nausea medicine. The folks at the ER at Cape Cod Hospital were very efficient. I felt well taken care of. My hair is falling out in splotches now. But then again, I don't have to shave any more, so it's not all bad. When all the hair is gone I'll post some before and after pictures.

We've had cold weather here at the Cape. Guess I was a little premature about Spring.