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| Kristi and Greg's Wedding-September 2012 |
The procedure itself took about 40 minutes. I sat on the edge of the gurney, and the radiologist inserted a small catheter in between the lining of my left lung that had collected all this fluid and completely collapsed my lung, hence why I was getting so short of breath. This small catheter was then connected to suction where they ended up draining 1400cc's of fluid. This equated to about 1 1/2 gallons. To put this into perspective, think of a gallon of milk and then half that again. No wonder I couldn't breathe! They warned me that as the lung was re-expanding, I would want to cough and have some discomfort. What they didn't tell me was that I would have excruciating pain which I put on the same pedestal as giving birth.
Post procedure, my physician wanted me to have a CT of the chest to confirm that they had drained most of the fluid off. I remember they had difficulty starting my IV and I ended up having to get poked several times. Part of the problem was I continued to have excruciating pain that was not being controlled. Once the IV got in, I was able to have some pain medication which at least made it tolerable. Once the CT was competed and read, the radiologist confirmed that the left pleural effusion had greatly been reduced. They also identified an area of consolidation in the left lower lung and discovered that I had a large pericardial effusion (fluid surrounding my heart) which had been masked on the previous chest x-ray due to the pleural effusion. Certainly, this was not normal and brought great concern to the physicians. That night, between the continued pain, the area of consolidation and the large effusion, Dennis, myself and my physician thought it would be best if I was admitted to the hospital for additional testing and pain control.
Late that night, I was admitted as an inpatient on the Cardiac Care floor of Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center where I had been employed for the last 21 years. It gave me comfort that I knew the nurses and physicians so well. My parents received a call that night from my physician giving them a heads up of what was going on. I reassured them that they did not need to come! That night, my Patient Controlled Anesthesia (PCA) and I became best friends! Once I was able to self-administer several doses of pain medicine, my pain level certainly became tolerable. All of this happened right through the dinner hour and I remember getting to my room and being so hungry. My sweet husband asked me what I wanted and he came back with a BIG MAC, fries, coke, and ... an apple pie. I remember how good that tasted.
The next morning, Valentine's Day, was filled with test and more test. An echocardiogram confirmed a large global peri-cardial effusion, a total of about 600cc of fluid surrounding my heart. Again, this explains the shortness of breath and the pounding of my heart. An EKG was done and more lab work. I had decreased breath sounds in the left lower base where the area of consolidation was identified. Pulmonary Rehab was ordered and got me up in the hallway. They monitored my O2 saturations and blood pressure to make sure that the sat's were not to low and the blood pressure was not getting too high with this fluid accumulation. An incentive spirometer was ordered for me to use every hour to keep my lungs well inflated. My physician told me this would be my new "best friend." Joey came up that afternoon from Pocatello and spent the afternoon with us. Both my attending physician and cardiologist visited later that day and felt that this was something viral that had set in my lungs and heart. Everything else so far had come back "negative."
Friday morning my physician came to see me. He was planning on sending me home later that day as all test had come back negative, so far, although they were still waiting on a RA (rheumatoid arthritis) test. I was to have a follow up echocardiogram and CXR on Tuesday, February 19 to check on the fluid levels both in the lung and around the heart. He felt that this was still a viral infection and we weren't doing anything in the hospital that we couldn't do at home. He asked me where I wanted my prescriptions called in to and they took my IV out. I was so excited to be going home. My own house, my own bed and pillow, and to be with my hubby and pets again. Yeah!!!! I had talked to my mom and dad and they were leaving that afternoon to come up and help Den and I out at home. I was excited to see them as well.
I called Den after lunch and wondered what time he wanted to come pick me up. He asked me if I had talked to my physician and I said "yes" early this morning and that everything had come back "negative" and that I could come home. Den then asked me if I had talked to him about the fluid and I said "no, I don't know what you're talking about." He knew at that point I was not aware of the cytology finding. What I didn't know was that that my physician had called Den first giving him and Joey a heads up that the fluid cytology was not good and that it showed malignant cells. Den then said to me,"oh never mind, I will just talk to you when I get there." I didn't think much about it.
Right after I hung up the phone, my physician walked in. He was by himself and had this look on his face. He sat down on the bed beside me, took my hand, and told me the horrific news. I was stunned. He was stunned. We were both speechless and cried together. I couldn't believe I was being told I had cancer, of all people. He stayed with me until I could control myself. I thought, "How could this be?" I was numb, angry, "why me?" He asked if I would like him to call my parents who were about 2 1/2 hours into their journey of driving up here. I said "yes" as I was in no position to talk to them. I called my friend at work who came and sat with me until Den and Joey arrived. The news traveled fast. Needless to say, my discharge was cancelled. The IV got put back in. Individuals came to offer their condolences and I didn't even know what kind of cancer I had. Further cytology studies were being done and it was all so confusing. Den and Joey came and we sat on the bed and just cried. Why, why why??? We had very little time to ourselves. Everyone meant well but we just needed some time to process the horrific news we were just told.
After further studies, the pathologist was able to confirm that my primary cancer was from the lung itself. We all sat there in dismay...primary lung cancer??? Are you kidding...I had never smoked a day in my life. This couldn't be happening. I was told that an oncology (cancer) physician would be coming by later this evening to introduce himself. Joey had contacted Kristi and Greg and they were planning on coming down that evening after work, hoping to arrive by 8:30 or so. That afternoon and into the evening, I had additional x-rays ruling out further spreading of this crap. CT scans of the chest, abdomen, pelvis. Mom and dad arrived in the middle of this. They were just as confused and horrified as we all were. The physician briefly popped in and said he would be back Saturday morning to give us the specifics. Kristi and Greg arrived as he was leaving. Talk about a whirlwind. I began to take notes and wrote down questions to ask in preperations for Saturday's meeting.
Saturday morning, February 16-the Oncologist arrived. Den, Kelli, Joey, Kristi and Greg were in the room. Den and Kristi stayed. Mom, dad, Kelli and Joe waited in my office. He didn't hold back any words and told us like it was: Non-Small Cell Adenocarcinoma - Stage IV with metastasis. Augh!!! Not good words. Pretty scary in fact. We got our questions answered and asked if he wouldn't mind going down and talking to Joey, mom, dad and Kelli, which he gladly did. That afternoon, more test and all I could think about was getting out of there and back home. The plan from the oncologist was to start chemo on Tuesday, therefore they wanted to have a port-a-cath (IV access) placed before going home. This was a surgical procedure and required me to have had nothing by mouth for 6 hours. This put me going to surgery at 8:00pm that night which my surgeon was happy to do, just so I could go home. Can't say enough good things about my physicians. They were wonderful and still are. For this, I'm most grateful. I was finally was able to go home, around 10:30pm that night.
My son Joey and my post diagnosis haircut.
love you
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