Saturday, October 23, 2010

Change Of Weekend Plans

Happy Saturday all!  Since I last wrote on Monday I have been discharged from the 3rd round and experienced an illness free 3 days.  I felt really good on Tuesday - Thursday and really thought I might be able to sneak past the side effects this cycle.  I was very wrong. 

I woke up with a headache and nausea about 2am on Friday which was what I was sort of expecting to feel at some point this week.  The rest of Friday went about as expected, just resting and trying to subdue the illness with meds.  My parents came up to make me dinner, when we decided to take my temperature, as I was a little warm.  Turns out I had a 101 fever, which means you have to go to the ER to receive treatment.  Of course this is right before the Ranger game is about to start, so I am doing everything I can to convince my folks I don't need to go (and strangely enough, I feel about 100% at this point).  But in the end we went by the book and drove over to Emory Midtown.

To say I was a fish out of water at the Midtown ER is probably an understatement, but thankfully we convinced the staff to switch the tv from CNN discussing Islamic profiling to baseball.  We watched the entire game save the last pitch from the waiting room, when just before we went in to see the Dr.  The combination of my fever and low white blood cell counts made it impossible for them to not admit me for observation for an undetermined amount of time.  I am furious because I feel just fine, yet now face the prospect of spending my entire weekend in the hospital, whereas I could be doing all the things they want me to from the comfort of my couch.

I argued a bit with the doctor again this morning, but again, since my blood counts have yet to bottom out, they can't afford to send me home, because infection could strike at any time.  I finally resigned myself to my fate for the weekend, but still I feel if my stupid counts can turn tonight I might be able to salvage Sunday and enjoy football from home.  The first step towards discharge has been met in that my fever has broke, so no I just have to hope these silly white blood cells will start replicating a little faster.

It actually could be worse though, because I am only on a drip for 20 minutes at a time every 4 hours, I am much more mobile than during treatment, which makes a big difference in getting comfortable under these 7 thread count sheets.  Also, I don't have CSS at home and would be unable to watch the Georgia game, but they have it here, so there will be no need for me to listen to my alarm clock radio, haha!

Thank you everyone, and have a great weekend!

Michael

4 comments:

  1. Michael, Hang in there!!! Know this totally sucks.......sorry to hear your white count is low. Glad you're getting treatment.....hope you're not eating salads, etc. -- too risky. Gotta cook away all bacteria to avoid neutropenia, and be nuts about washing hands after ALL contact with others OR public surfaces. Hopefully, Neupogen shots (or whatever they're prescribing) will keep you safe in future. You're in my thoughts and prayers. Hugs, Michelle on Westview

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  2. Michael, hate to hear you are stuck in that hospital...praying for your body to restore the white blood cells and that you get to feeling better and back at home soon!
    Go Dawgs :-)

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  3. Bummer, Michael...guess you didn't see that one coming!!! Hope you get to go home today!!!

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  4. This could be a huge week for Michael Oyler athletics. Hang in there buddy.

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