ER Visit

Thursday (oncologist appt and other appts) and Friday (trip to Chicago) were physically, mentally, and emotionally draining. I was thankful that Saturday (yesterday as I write this) was a low key day. I spent a lot of time resting as well as managed to shower and wash my hair without incident! I was also thankful I had an appointment at 7:30 on Sunday morning to get another unit of blood and another unit of platelets to get me through the long weekend.

I'm also thankful my mouth issues have healed significantly in the last several days. While I still don't feel outright hunger, I can tell when I should eat and the process of eating is much easier.

I've always had on-going issues with my sinuses - I've never had a specialist examine me, but as I've gotten older, the issues have evolved and persisted, especially during peak allergy seasons. Over the last few weeks, my sinuses have been a bit more noticeable, especially with build up and drainage overnight. I've also had an occasional dry cough, as well as slow-to-heal bloody noses (which never get to the point of flowing blood).

Last evening, I was lying down, and as I sat up to reach for something, I had the immediate urge to cough. Thinking it would be the typical dry cough, I was startled when the cough produced something significant from my chest. I was unsettled to discover that it was a rather large blob of blood. I coughed a couple more times to dislodge all that was there. My chest felt calm at that point, and I assumed it would be an isolated, odd incident.

About 30 minutes later, I got in bed to read, and within a few minutes, I felt the urge to cough again. Again I went through the same process as earlier - several coughs which produced a significant blob of blood. This continued for about an hour and a half - a coughing spell about every 10 - 15 minutes, producing blood. My chest tightened, too - it felt like I had an immediate case of bronchitis.

I wondered if I could make it through the night and keep my early morning transfusion appointment. But I was afraid to go to sleep - I felt I'd lost an abnormal amount of blood, and I worried the blood was an indication of internal bleeding.

Around 11 pm, as the coughing spells continued, I called the on-call oncologist. He said my low platelets were likely at play, and he advised that I go an ER to be checked out and get the transfusions sooner than later. Of course, the "productive" coughing and chest tightness ended as soon as I talked to the doctor!

My dad picked me up, and we headed to Peoria. I chose to go to Carle Methodist because that's were I always have received my transfusions, and I had preliminary testing done already ahead of the scheduled appointment.

I was immediately assessed upon arrival at the ER, given a private room, and my blood drawn. I also eventually had a chest x-ray and received the unit of blood and unit of platelets. Even though the symptoms had subsided, I was thankful for the x-ray, which showed my lungs to be clear. There was not an official determination for the cause of the blood, but I suspect it may have originated from my sinuses. I have continued to cough more than usual, but it remains a dry cough.

While the timing is never ideal and I am growing tired of the constant worry about how to deal with the random issues that keep popping up, I am grateful for the medical attention I have been able to receive - from the on-call doctors to the ER staff.

My current prayer requests:

• My body gets stronger in all ways over the next two weeks.

• Progress is made regarding a potential transplant donor, and perhaps the transplant timeline begins to take shape.