Anotehr ER Visit Results in Reschedule of CT Scan - October 29, 2009

Sometimes things work out for the best.

We were getting ready to leave to drive up to the MSK medical center in Basking Ridge for Pete’s scheduled CT scan when he told me that he didn't feel well. I took his temp and it was 102. That precipitated a call to his chemo doctor at MSKCC in NYC and he was directed to go immediately to the local emergency room. They cancelled his scan appointment.

The drive to the hospital is just a few minutes so we got there a little after 10 AM. Because of the chemo and his weakened immune system, we were quickly ushered into an isolation unit. They did all the routine blood drawing and urine collection and contacted his chemo doctor to keep her apprised of the situation. It was about 1 PM when they took him for the chest x-ray.

We were waiting for the results when an aide brings a young man, probably mid-twenties, into the room and instructs him to undress down to the waist and get into the bed right next to my son's. She wheels a curtain/divider between the 2 beds (there was barely enough room for it to fit) and leaves. The man is coughing and wheezing and my son and I looked at each other, both of us thinking the same thing without having to say it.

A minute later the man's wife and toddler come in and she asks him how he's doing. "They said I've probably got a bad case of the flu" is his response.

With that I get up and go out to find a nurse, doctor or someone, anyone. My son did have the regular flu shot on the recommendation of his chemo doctor, but not the H1N1 shot. He's supposed to get one as soon as they become available. Understand that we have no idea what "flu" this man may or may not have, but whatever he's got, if he is at all contagious with ANYTHING, I want him as far from Pete as possible.

I find a floor supervisor and briefly but calmly explain the situation. She literally ran to find the doctor and within minutes a nurse came in and removed the man, then came back and apologized to us. Then the floor supervisor came in to check to see that he had been removed and apologized. Then the doctor came in and apologized. I noticed that they had moved the young man and his family to another isolation room.

We finally got the all clear for discharge around 3:30 PM. The ER doctor had checked all the test results with the chemo doctor and said that all came back consistent with the results that they have on record at MSKCC.

Once home, Pete called about rescheduling the CT scan. They told him to come in 4 PM on Monday. He was scheduled to resume the next round of chemo on Tuesday and that will be when the chemo doctor gives us the results of the scan.

Last time he had the scan it was also on a Thursday and we went for the chemo on Tuesday. I didn't know it until we were sitting in Dr K's examination room, waiting for her to come in and give us the results, but it was then that Pete told me that he saw the scan as they did it and it looked to him like the spots were larger. I could tell by his voice and his face that he thought the doctor was going to deliver bad news and he was preparing me. Actually, the news that she gave was that they were unable to determine because, yes, some spots had increased, but some had also decreased, and this is often the case following the first round of chemo treatments.

My point is that if he had the scan done today, and if he saw it and thought, as he did last time, that the spots increased, he would have had to spend another 4-5 days thinking the worst. At least, if he does see the scan when he has it done on Monday afternoon and then gets the report from the doctor less than 24 hours later, he will have less time to worry that he may have seen something bad.

The best case scenario, though, is that he does see the scan on Monday and the lesions have diminished in size and/or quantity. I'm keeping my hopes up that this is how it goes.

Trip to ER at MSKCC - October 04, 2009

Saturday morning my son was still not doing well. His blood pressure was still hovering in the low range and his heart rate was still high, getting close to 100. He felt warm to me so we checked his temp and it was 101.

He called the doctor and was told to get to MSKCC's Emergency care unit ASAP. It took him a while to just get from his bed to the car. Every move was such an effort. He was as white as a ghost and was having trouble catching his breath. It's almost 2 hr drive to the hospital when there's no traffic. It just happened that today there was a Korean festival/parade and traffic was being re-routed, roads were blocked so it took a bit longer, but we finally made it.

The nurse took his vitals shortly after we arrived. They ordered chest x-rays and blood work and started IV fluids. The doctor came in and examined him and was concerned that there may be a blood clot. She ordered a contrast CT scan and an EKG and said that he may need a blood transfusion, but they wouldn't know for certain until they got results from all the tests.

I asked the doctor about how long before we'd know anything and she said at least an hour. With that Bruce and I went down to donate blood, which took about an hour altogether.

We had just gotten back to my son's room when the doctor came in to report that overall the test results were good. He was dehydrated and his hemoglobin count was quite low. There was no clot, no sign of infection and as soon as they took some swabs to check for flu (he had gotten the advised flu shot about 2 wks earlier, just regular flu, not H1N1) and he finished more IV fluids, he would be released.

Today, Sunday, he is feeling much better. He has actually started to get up and walk to the kitchen a couple of times this afternoon. Hopefully, things will get better, at least until his next chemo treatment.