Saturday, May 16, 2009

Emergency Room Deja Vu

Tonight Sandra and I had a sense of deja vu. She had to make a 2nd trip to the emergency room for an infection. Everything happened exactly like it did in early April with the first emergency room visit. Friday was the 8th day after chemo treatment #3. Once again a fever spiked on the 8th day. She called the oncologist, he told her to go to the hospital. After the initial intake with the triage nurse Sandra was put in Exam Room #4--same one she was in last time.

But that's where the similarities stopped. This time we were wiser and took our own water along so Sandra could keep hydrated. We also wouldn't let anyone draw blood until her arm was wrapped in a warm towel for a while. That made a huge difference. The lab assistant got the blood with 1 poke and hardly any bother for Sandra. The blood cultures all came back clear and this time the white blood count and neutrophils were above 1.0 so they sent Sandra home with a prescription for antibiotics. No intravenous needle needed!

The hospital was out of the antibiotic she needed to take. I ran to the new Shoppers Drug Mart (which I found out is the only pharmacy open 24 hours in Abbotsford--I knew the store was open but didn't realize you could get a prescription filled in the middle of the night!). Sandra took her first antibiotic pill around 1:30 a.m. enjoying a chocolate cappuccino muffin (thanks Kim and Becky!) with the pill since she has to take them with food. That was a delicious middle of the night snack to take with an antibiotic.

Sandra is now at home resting. Hopefully she can sleep in late Saturday morning and get lots of rest this weekend. She has to go back to check the blood levels on Monday morning. We pray the numbers will be as good or better!

Once again, no cut flowers or live plants please as they pose a health risk. Also, please call ahead before visiting--Sandra probably won't be up to much visiting this weekend at least.

Thanks for all of your prayers! A special thanks to Sid and Sue for being with Sandra this evening and praying with us before the trip to the hospital!

- by Ardie

3 comments:

  1. wow...what a blessing all ended well and you are back home...sounds like you are so blessed with all the care you are getting...i could feel the love as i was reading..what amazing family and friends you have...have a restful Sat. xoxo

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  2. Good morning, Sandra!

    I'm praying for you today - praying that the antibiotics kick in quickly and that the infection goes away soon. Thank goodness you can be resting at home. I hope your energy starts to come back soon.
    Love, Alyssa

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  3. OK...well, this wasn't the entry I was expecting when I checked in this morning! So glad that this ended differently than last time...glad you're at home, resting. Praying that this infection clears quickly and that you're soon back on your feet and feeling better.

    Thanks, Ardie, for posting, and for being with Sandra last night.

    Love,
    Jeanette

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