After I completed 8 rounds of radiation treatments, I got more and more short of breath and fatigued. They found out my red blood cells had dropped enough that I could get a blood transfusion. At this point, I had to be wheelchaired everywhere. I easily became short of breath doing the simplest things. I went into coughing fits in the middle of the night just trying to catch my breath. All this concerned the oncologist. When I arrived for the prearranged blood transfusion, the nurse immediately put me on oxygen. What a relief! I breathed so much more comfortably then. Unfortunately, the blood transfusion gave me more energy but did not make my breathing easier. We reviewed the latest CT scan with the oncologist. The news was devastating :(. I have indeed progressed extensively in both my lungs. There's evidence of emboli in my kidneys and inferior vena cava, which made everyone nervous of blood clots. I was admitted into the hospital immediately because it was too risky to go home.
I've been here 4 days now and they don't know when I can go home. They started anticoagulation treatment only to find out my platelets are now also tanking. So now we wait. I may need a platelet transfusion. If the platelets come back up they will start me on prophylactic anticoagulants. If platelets come up even further, we can finally move on to the next treatment. Whatever that will be? We are researching options as we wait for platelets to recover. Thank goodness I have a great caregiver (hubby) and very helpful brother to support me. Thanks to everyone to have offered to help. Thanks to visitors who have distracted me from the darkness that sometimes descends on me. I hope I have better news next time.
