Fevers and Coughing and Chills, Oh My!

I spent 7 hours in the emergency room Saturday night. Last Monday I started getting a scratchy, irritated throat. I thought maybe it was allergies since I had been out in the flower beds pulling weeds. Thursday the Dr. said my throat looked fine. Friday, I somewhat lost my voice off and on and started coughing.

Saturday I slept in until around 10. Got up and made the bed for our housesitter for Sunday night. Then I peeled an egg and made some toast with peanut butter. Looked at it and threw it out and drank an Ensure. I sat in the living room chair for awhile and just did nothing but cough and feel drained. I went back to bed at 12:30 and got up at 4:00 as I had to bathe and dry Kohbi for the show in Laramie.

Getting ready for that and going up and down the stairs was like moving in slow motion and it was harder to breathe under exertion. It was all I could do to get everything in place. Michael was helping my sisters lay patio stones at one of their houses. I got Kohlbi bathed and mostly dry, after drinking another Ensure after the bath.

Michael came home and I told him he would have to put everything away--I didn't have the strength. I took a shower and then we went to the local hospital emergency room. The center of my chest felt heavy. I really didn't think I had a cardiace problem, but I was concerned I might have pneumonia, as my white counts were down.

I did have a fever of over 101, which for chemo patients is not great. My blood pressure was low (even lower than normal). I gave them my symptions and my history, including the cancer, chemo, and blood clots. My D-Dimer (for blood clots) came out high, so they had to do a chest CAT scan to rule out clots. No clots. I had a chest x-ray. No pneumonia. I had an EKG. It was not normal, so they wanted to compare it to a previous one at Boulder Community Hospital. That took forever. That EKG was abnormal as well. I guess I'm just normally abnormal.

The doctor, nurses, and technicians were all very nice. After all that, I probably had a bronchial infection. I had a nebulizer treatment. I couldn't produce any sputum into my mouth that they could analyze for bacterial or viral origin. I went home with an inhaler and a a 5-day antibiotic.

We got 4 hours of sleep before having to get up on Sunday to get ready to go to Laramie. Thankfully we didn't show until 3:00 or would have had to blow off that day.

I felt a little better, but not much. I got Kohlbi combed out, my breeder trimmed his feet, we finished packing and took off about 10:30. Had to stop in Ft. Collins to get my prescription filled. The pharmacist couldn't read the doctor's name. I had to call the housesitter and have her look at the paperwork. What should have taken 15 minutes, took almost 45.

We got to Laramie about 1:00. Plenty of time. Unloaded and set up and then sat for awhile. I was exhausted. Finally got him ready for the ring and went over and sat and waited. Kohlbi won his class but that was it. We got an invitation to dinner, but by then I was feeling like I was walking through water. We went out for a quick dinner near the hotel. I was sure I had a fever again--I was really chilled and shivering. Finally ate some fish (after not eating much for two days) and checked into the hotel. Took some Advil and got under the covers.

Monday morning I felt a little better. Had breakfast with a dog friend. Got Kohlbi ready to show and he got a 3-pt major with best of winners. He now has 10 points, and only needs 5 single points since he now has 3 majors (only needs two). That helped me feel better. We packed up and left town and drove down Hwy 287 in rain and thick fog for about the first half our. Then things cleared up.

The high of the win was wearing off and I started to feel really fatigued. We went to a friend's birthday party for a little while, then came home and crashed. But I couldn't sleep. I was chilled, the dog had to go out, I had to pee a zillion times, Michael snored. I woke up the morning with a raucous chest and head cold. I didn't want to go into work and cough all over the place or catch something else while my system is down.

Today I am resting and doing nothing. I hope that chemo goes well on Thursday. We have another dog show in Longmont this weekend. I told my breeder I may need help with Kohlbi if I'm not feeling well. The third treatment in a round is tough.

I'm trying to balance illness and my life. I think this weekend was a little off balance. Hopefully we'll get it better from here.