Latest Updates

Here are the latest updates. For those of you that don’t already know I was admitted to the hospital over night (Wednesday 6th – Thursday 7th) but I’m home now and getting better. All the details are described at the bottom.

Friday February 1, it was another crappy night of no sleep and lots of pain in my right arm. I also woke up to my infamous hiccups and heart burn again. I swear I will take the pain over the hiccups and heart burn any day. These symptoms lasted through out the day and night Friday. Saturday rolls around to the same but my arm pain is going away, guess the steroids are working as planned. Yet I still have the have the heart burn and hiccups. The good news is that I was able to take a 3 hour nap on Saturday trying to recuperate from all the lost sleep. After my nap we met with my brother downtown for dinner and my attempt to have a beer. That didn’t go over so well -I guess the carbonation really irritated my heart burn. Right after dinner I came home and felt like I blacked out. I lay in bed for a minute and next thing I know its morning. I woke up feeling really good having caught up on a solid full night of sleep and ready for super bowl. No hiccups, no heartburn and not much pain in my arm. I am feeling pretty good for super bowl Sunday. But with super bowl comes, chips, 7 layer dip, salsa and all the stuff I probably should not have eaten. By half time the hiccups and heart burn were back in full affect. That’s my own fault for making stupid food choices for the day.

Over the last week I have been dealing with a couple bouts of insomnia and Sunday was just another one of those nights. I woke up at 4am wide awake and unable to restfully lay in bed or fall back to sleep. Monday continued on with the heart burn but thank goodness no hiccups.

Tuesday February 5, proved to be an insomnia filled night but this time I woke up at 2:30 am. Laid in bed until 3:30 am and finally tried to watch some TV and NEVER fell back asleep.

YES INSOMNIA SUCKS!!! I need to find out if this is side affect or my own mind playing tricks on me.

Wednesday February 6, I woke up with a painful chest cough. Didn’t think much of it and hoped it would go away through the day. As the day went on I actually started feeling worse and thought I was just tired and needed some rest. I put myself to bed by 4pm and tried to sleep off the strange feelings and the cough. The next thing I know the body aches and fever kick in like I’ve never felt.

I just lay in bed not sure what was going on and completely incoherent. I think it was about 8pm when Becky and my dad decide it was enough; my fever was too high, I had a screaming headache and could barely speak. They called the doctor who advised that they get me to the emergency room immediately as he thinks my white blood cell count may have dropped.


They get me to the car and to the emergency room where the pain in my head is throbbing and sitting in a chair is just too uncomfortable. We waited what felt like a very long time before they took me back into a room. Once in the room they start with some oral Tylenol, an IV, check my temp and draw blood. Finally the doctor came and agrees to give me good ole morphine. I don’t like the way morphine makes me feel but I know that it will help ease the pain instantly. The nurse readies the shot and straight to the IV comes the morphine. I immediately feel my entire body get hot but relaxed at the same time. The strange thing is that it never takes away the pain that I feel in my head and my body it just makes it all bearable.

I am able to lay there and rest peacefully. After the pain is under control I am off for a cat scan and x-rays. Shortly after that a spinal tap is done to make sure I do not have meningitis. I’ve completely lost track of time at this point but I do remember that when all was done they admitted me into a real room at 3am. I try to sleep the rest of the night even though I am being checked on every two hours and every two hours they are giving me morphine. By morning my Oncologist comes in to check on me and states that all the tests came back ok. My white blood count was off and there are white blood cells found in my spinal fluid but that was expected and the numbers were not alarming. He thinks I just got a nasty virus or flu. He decides to take me off of the morphine and gives me oral oxycodone and an oral antibiotic. The oxycodone has a similar affect just not as harsh as the morphine.

They continue this every two hours through the day. I spent the day sleeping and hanging out with Becky and my Dad as they stayed with me for most of the day. By around 9pm I’m ready to go home sleep this off.

Friday February 8th and Saturday February 9th I just lay in bed and sleep a lot. The headache is still there just not as bad. The body aches and the fever are gone and I just have a few dizzy spells every once in a while. .

Bottom line is while under going chemo you can’t get the flu. Your body does not have the ability to fight the flu after receiving chemo. For obvious reasons my second chemo treatment was cancelled this week and I’ve been rescheduled for Thursday February 14th.

Update on Jay

Not to worry, so far nothing too major.
Came home to Jay with a severe fever this evening and somewhat incoherent.
Couldnt get up, talk, etc. Lots of pain.
He had a cough this morning, and body aches.
There has been lots of nasty flu going around.
Called his doc (as he was supposed to have Chemo Thursday morning) to advise.
He asked that we take him to the hosp. to have white cell count checked out.
Anil Sr. and I took him in and after evaluation, they think his count isn't exactly where it should be, and most likely he is also fighting a virus.

They did a spinal tap to make sure it was nothing serious as bacterial or viral meningitis, and did a ctscan to make sure nothing was going on in his head, as he has a severe headache.

They've decided to keep him over night to make sure he stays hydrated, and his fever is controlled, and that the infection is not bacterial. His oncologist will come to see him in the hospital tomorrow morning. I doubt any chemo will be administered at this time.

Right now Jay needs lots of rest, and some down time...his phone is off- please do not call his mobile while he's at the hospital. Feel free to send your good wishes to him on the blog (God knows he'll be checking it first thing in the morning from the hospital!). If you have any questions, feel free to email and I'll check in with you guys later.

Off to bed.
-Bek