Hurry up and wait

Somehow the universe was not content to let me just start fighting the actual cancer.  That would be too easy.  Instead I had to wake up early in the morning (again) with some kind of belly pain (again) and, for good measure, a fever of 102.5.  I just had the portacath placed so infection was a concern, but the belly pain was new and different (again).  

The on-call oncologist advised we go right to the Brigham ER to get a scan.  Another weekend, another trip to the ER, complete with toddler.  I was in a room in fairly short order.  My portacath was so new the nurses didn't want to access it, so I got an old-fashioned IV.  Morphine was provided.  While waiting to get the scan, more blood needed to be drawn, and the nurse gave me a second old-fashioned IV, in anticipation of me needing antibiotics - twice the IVs is twice the infection-fighting fun!

It took a while to get the scan, and then a while longer for the result, but antibiotics was indeed the next step.  The scan showed an inflammation of my colon (colitis) but no blockage.  It was expected that a course of a few antibiotics would take care of it.

Everything changes when you're an oncology patient.  You get a fever, you're admitted.  You cough, admitted.  You sneeze, admitted.  They told us before I had the scan that I would be admitted, but it took all day to get a room.  I was put in the oncology ward.  The oncology nurses did the more reasonable thing and confirmed my port could be accessed; my old-fashioned IVs were removed.  I was on three different IV antibiotics.  We were basically waiting and seeing.

That was yesterday.  I continued to spike fevers that day and overnight.  Today we were hopeful the antibiotics were doing their job as I hadn't had a fever all day... until late afternoon when it spiked again.  The doctors suspected the mass on my ovary might be abcessed but after an exam and review of the scan again, that was ruled out.  Turns out my red blood count has been dropping too, so there could be bleeding in that mass - if so however the doctors said they are usually self-contained and stop on their own.  

Lucky me now gets to have a blood transfusion tonight as well as blood cultures (from my port and the old-fashioned way, to rule out the port as the source of bacteria) and an ultrasound tomorrow to more closely examine the ovarian mass.  I basically can't leave until they know what's going on - though not sure I could anyway as the belly pain continues, and morphine does do the trick.  

I also can't start chemo until whatever this is is resolved.  I'm not excited that I haven't even started treatment and I'm already exhausted.  I hope I have the chance to get this before it gets me.