Chemo kicking my ass - Part 3

WEDNESDAY: About 8am I asked Mum to take me to Canberra hospital. Hubby had to start back at work so she put the boys in the car and we headed off. Mum dropped me at the front entrance and went to park the car with the plan to meet me in oncology. By this time I was feeling very strange, staggering and swaying a bit as I shuffled past the lobby towards oncology. I must have looked wretched. Several people shot me concerned looks as I inched my way along the corridor. Oncology ward was at the end of a very long hallway and it felt like it kept stretching further out with each step I took. About a third of the way down I stopped and leant against the wall to rest. My body felt cold and I was dizzy. A nurse walked past then asked if I needed to sit down and I did...well actually I slumped into a heap.

My memory is a little foggy after that but I have vague recollections of being rushed down the hall to oncology in a wheelchair and suddenly being surrounded by a dozen doctors and nurses. Someone pricked my finger to take my blood sugar level which I was later told was 2.6. and that my heart rate was a bit out of whack and my hands and feet were like ice. I remember someone squirting a cold gel into my mouth several times, not being able to feel my hands and people asking me all sorts of questions which I tried to answer but I'm sure I was quite incoherent.

Apparently a few nurses from the chemo treatment ward came over and recognised me. The MET (Medical Emergency Team) who were first on the scene moved me to a bed in the chemo ward and continued treating me along with the resident oncologist for an hour before my body stopped shaking and the pain and nausea calmed down enough for me to talk properly. Meanwhile, my poor Mum was in the chemo waiting room with the my two boys, sick with worry. When things had calmed down, she was allowed to quickly come in and see me before taking the boys home.

Eventually I was moved to a room in the Oncology Ward. I was utterly exhausted but stable and finally, finally I felt safe and in the right place.

I spent four days in Oncology, three of those days on IV fluids and drugs. I managed to eat, drink and take oral meds and remained stable for the final 24hrs before being released to come home this afternoon. I feel human again. It is so good to be home.

Posted with Blogsy