Ablation tomorrow

Last update on the recent ablation and ER visits:

1. The only side effects from the ablation itself appear to have been 3-4 nights when my temp rose. Only one night (day 5) did it rise over the 100.4 cut off for contacting the doctors and even then, they wanted to wait and see another 24 hours. And….the other side effect was something fairly obvious, …..the area was slightly tender for several days and I couldn’t lie on my side without some discomfort (not really pain). One night it was uncomfortable…and the next morning it was fine…about day 5.

2. The cough and dry heaving was definitely asthma , secondary to a respiratory infection I caught almost 6 weeks ago.

3. The pain in the abdomen has not come back…and likely due to one, small kidney stone.

Neither 2 or 3 were related to #1, but they muddied up the waters on diagnosis for each other.
Still coughing some, and using inhalers to try to get the bronchial tubes to settle down and not spasm. It’s better, but not great yet. Had a pretty sizeable asthma attack last Friday night, but am back to where I was before it happened.

Julie

Catherine….Thank you……I’m ready for those calmer days ahead that you mentioned. Haven’t seen any of them yet……but I know they’re out there and waiting for me. Dang it….I want my three months of calm!!! LOL Flu shot today…so arm hurts. I know it will pass and be a thing of the past too…..but gah….would have liked to have skipped it. That wouldn’t be prudent though. Glad y GP pushed me to get it done while I can…..who knows when something else might happen to keep me from getting it done?

Today IS a better day though……had a followup with my GP.
1. She actually heard the “cough” in person….and said….”That’s asthma.” Yup…that’s what I thought too. It’s improving, but slowly.
2. I described the belly pain incident that precipitated the second ER visit……words and hands….exactly as it happened. The Er had not conveyed that to her….so she was hearing it for the first time. She nodded and said it sounds exactly like a kidney stone….and explains so much.
3. Ears…..have a retracted right eardrum which explains the fuzzy and hard to hear on the right ear and another scratch in the left ear (apparently in my sleep, I guess) . The left is self-limiting….some ear drops will fix it pretty fast. The right ear…..use Flonase twice daily to try to keep things as open as possible…probably ANOTHER three weeks before it resolves.
4. Issues with the oncologist…..she said My thoughts about treatment were very reasonable and to keep doing what I was doing….and pushing to get what I want. (easier said than done, but we haven’t given up on forming that perfect team. I have an IR team in which I have total confidence and a surgeon who sees me as an individual patient and treats me that way. Now, just to put together the third leg and hope that I don’t have to use any of them, but if /when the ICC returns again……and if it is again operable or ablateable…..then we are set to go without having to fight to get what I want.

Meanwhile……I am plannig daycations….and several day mini trips…..and a bigger driving trip later this fall. We will only have the baby (17 month) grandson two days a week from now on…..he’s in daycare the other 3 days and if I become sick , have a Mayo appt, or want to go on vacation, they will put him in the daycare for the full week from now on. It’s how we did it with the first grandson. So…..this fall……we’re going to cut loose and hit the road…..go visit people….see some country side. I’ve had my “tune up” and good to go until early December. LOL

Julie T.

Marion….that is weird about your husband’s kidney stone episode. It sounds so similar, doesn’t it.? Had he ever had a stone before? I wonder if it is from dehydration after surgery. I had a terrible time with getting enough to drink. My mouth was like glue from the stuff they give you during surgery to dry up secretions….took two full days to get it so I didn’t have to drink every 15 seconds so my lips and tongue wouldn’t stick….and then, it’s stayed like that until last night, despite drinking a decent amount of water. Weird that it would suddenly turn around AFTER a stone had passed. But, I don’t know how that all works. Today, my lips feel normal again…the cracked areas are gone…..rehydrated…even though they were cracked yesterday morning. Hopefully, this is a sign I’m on the mend again. This is the “ordinary” stuff that happens while you are sweating the big stuff. I kind of feel like I’m looking over my shoulder for what might be coming next……so am staying close to home for a couple days…..but trying to get through the mound of paperwork will keep me busy. After a couple days….I’m pronouncing myself healthy again…and moving on.

What else can happen? I did not report back as planned because …well…things happened.

Last Sunday night, the temp returned, but only into the mid 99 degree range. However, I’d been coughing almost non-stop (hard and non-productive) and dry heaving very frequently during the day and as it got to be about 8 p.m., I realized that I needed help. A call to my GP found that she was not on call….and I knew the guy on call (not in her practice) could never be up to speed on what all has gone on with me……so ….off to the ER we went…arrival…9 p.m. We got back home at 4 a.m. after going through blood and urine tests, a breathing treatment (helped a little) , a chest x ray (no pneumonia) and a special lung test (I am allergic to the CT Contrast dye so can not use a CT for this) to check for blood clots (no blood clots). The diagnosis: The blood test showed my creatinine was now up to 1.7 (it is usually about 1.2 or 1.3 (due to Gem/Cis damage) . YIKES! It isn’t good to be given a diagnosis of acute kidney injury. There were no infections to be found. So, basically, nothing to really do. The breathing treatment seem to help settle down the cough some……and I do have asthma. So, the next day (Monday), I called my GP who was now back on call. She already knew all about the ER visit, so I just had to fill in some facts from the overnight. Husband had remembered that I’d had a virus last year with a cough that lasted a couple months after the virus left. GP had given me an Asthmanex inhaler back then that worked like a charm. So I asked her if we could try using one of those again. She agreed….and danged if it didn’t start helping ….slowed the cough way down and almost all the dry heaving. Apparently, the dry heaving was an exaggerated gagging attempt to get my airways opened and air inside my lungs.

Fast forward to today: This morning we went out for breakfast….and an hour after we ate, I suddenly had some pretty bad aches in my abdomen. We left right away……and after getting into the car…the aches turned into serious repeated squeezing pain in my upper right abdominal quadrant…every 3-5 seconds. OMG……I didn’t think I could make it home. After we got home I laid down in bed…turned to my left side and the pain stopped. Heavenly relief! Still, I figured we ought to get this checked out…..called the GP….and drove off to the ER again. We spent another 4 hours down there….blood tests, urine tests and ultrasound of my organs. I found it interesting that I was told I didn’t have a gall bladder, when I absolutely do have one. They apparently got me mixed up with another patient next door who didn’t have one. GAH! The diagnosis: Gall bladder looked fine, no infections, creatinine had dropped to 1.3 (where it usually has been since chemo) , but there was blood in the urine. The presumptive diagnosis was that I had a small kidney stone that got stuck in a small tube and it broke loose after the 45 min of pain. It may or may not have been excreted yet, but they doubt it will cause any more trouble if it still has to finish passing through the urinary tract. It has to be small or apparently the pain woud have been far worse. YUCK!

So….just about the time I thought that I had gotten through another major procedure, the ablation, to kill the tumor, this every day stuff hits and blindsides me. Who would have thought? Just goes to show that in the midst of all things CC……we aren’t immune to every day illnesses . I was on the watch for complications from the microwave ablation…only to have more mundane things be the real trouble.

Right now…I feel just fine. Let’s hope it stays that way…..I do not want the trifecta of ER visits this week.

Satuday night…..chills and temp came back….upp to 101.9. So I called Mayo and discussed it. It turns out tha the post ablation flu like syndrome that happens to about 20 percent also sometimes has a delayed start. The guy I spoke to tonight thinks that is what is going on. However, it this continues another 24 hours, I am to call back. Meanwhile, he did not want me to go to the ER becuse it might precipitate an invasive procedure that isn’t necessary. So, I sti here quietly and try to relax and just go with it. He said also that the post ablation syndrome CAN go on for as long as 10 days. So much for me beating the 20% odds……but what else is new? I’ll report back again tomorrow.