The Fun Never Ends

Late Friday (the 21st) Julie developed a fairly significant pain in her neck which she probably would have ignored until her next doctor’s appointment had she not also developed a low grade fever on Sunday. She actually did not connect the fever with the neck pain and would have blown that off, too, but thankfully the fever finally jumped to 100.8 (her doctor has told her that the point of concern is at 100.5 degrees.) Joe took her to emergency, where a CAT scan showed that she had blood clots caused by her chemo port which is in her chest and extends up to her neck. (Blood clots anywhere have deadly potential, thus the thankfulness for the relatively elevated fever.) So now Julie gets to give herself a shot in the stomach, a blood thinner, twice a day for . . . she's not sure at this point how long. The fun never ends!

Julie saw her doctor today (not her oncologist, her regular doctor in Coeur d’Alene) who prescribed coumadin, another blood thinner, which she will probably need to take throughout the time she is receiving “chimiothérapie.” She has to have her blood checked fairly often to see if the thinners are doing their job, and to regulate the amount she takes. Because of the blood thinners, she has to be very careful about not being injured; a bump bad enough to cause a bruise will have to be seen by a doctor (immediately, not after a bruise actually forms.) She can exercise, but not strenuously – walking is the best bet. For now, she can continue her normal diet while the thinner is being regulated but she can't introduce any new foods that are on the "problem food" list.

Her neck was still sore as of today, and she was tired; hopefully the pain will dissipate, along with the clots, very quickly.

Next doctor’s appointment – Thursday the 27th, 8am – blood and port check.

Next chemo treatment - Tuesday Sept. 1.