Another exciting week in the world of hospital visits.
I had been spiking fevers over the past few weeks. Normally, I would do the stupid thing and treat it at home with some Tylenol, plenty of water and a cold compress on my head. It almost always occurred in the evening around 10PM - absolutely the last thing I wanted to do at that hour would be to head to the hospital for an indeterminate amount of time. But with prodding from my doctor, I went to Raritan Bay Medical Center in Perth Amboy Monday evening.
My temperature was about 101.3 and Dr. Moss wanted to get blood cultures from me while the fever was active to try to locate a source for infection. Infection is the most likely cause for my fevers. Simple enough, right? Well after 5 hours, a chest x-ray, lots of IV fluids, blood cultures and some arguing with the doctor in the ER, I was finally able to leave Raritan Bay. Yikes.
Dr. Moss also wanted me to come to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital for IV antibiotics and other tests. I was admitted on Tuesday. This hospital experience was not bad in comparison to other visits I've had. On Wednesday, Dr. Ben-Menachem performed another ERCP on me. He removed one of my stents and replaced the other. This was a repeat of the same procedure I just had two weeks prior.
As Dr. Ben-Menachem explained, there is a build up of "junk" in my liver and bile ducts. The purpose of the stents is to keep the ducts open wide enough for that junk to flow out. The reason he removed one of the stents is that the right side of my biliary tree into the liver is constricted. The flow ain't got no flow. The stent wasn't helping this and he concluded it would be better not to block up anything even more than it was at present. The left side of the tree is wide open and functioning well with the stent.
The constriction on the right side is a bit of a concern. Ben-Menachem assured me that you can still live and function without any liver problems with just one side draining properly. However, this assumes that there will be no backup/build up in the liver. If bile does not drain from the liver, it could lead to cirrhosis and liver failure. To prevent that from happening, I may have to have another external drain placed - which I would am not looking forward to...
On Thursday, I had another catheter exchange for my gall bladder drain. The drain has been leaking at the entry site constantly for the past few weeks. This exchange and upsize should hopefully help by closing whatever gap there was between the tube and my skin. I actually just had this procedure done about 8 days prior - with no improvement on the leakage front. I had to laugh when one of the nurses told me that the first time they went from a 10 to a 10.2. I thought to myself, "why even bother?" So this time, they went up to a 12. I wish it was an 11 only so I could quote Spinal Tap - "This one goes to eeeleven."
I was released (escaped? freed?) Friday morning after the team of doctors (oncologists, gastro specialists) decided to put me on semi-permanent antibiotics (Flagyll and Bactrim) to make sure I don't contract and infection and hopefully fight against any infection that was causing my fevers. So far it seems to be working as my temp hasn't gotten out of control since I've been out. However, being on antibiotics for a long time concerns me. Correct my medical knowledge if I'm wrong, but I think that antibiotics suppress your immune system a bit and also you can grow immune to them after prolonged use. I'm going to make an extra effort to counteract with probiotics, like those found in the yogurt I eat (Stonyfield Farms).
I've been feeling pretty good, even considering the fevers. I'm hoping to get back on track with the chemo treatments tomorrow. With that in mind, I'm receiving a blood transfusion today - while I type this to be exact. My darn hemoglobins keep jumping ship. We're still working on jump starting my body's ability to produce iron. I was taking iron supplements for awhile but it wasn't helping - my body wasn't absorbing it correctly. Dr. Moss has given me iron infusions twice now. One was before the last chemo session, the other was this past week while I was in the hospital. Once we can get things working again, she'll likely prescribe Procrit to help my body produce red blood cells and avoid anemia.
In related news, I did a photo shoot with Izzy Ramirez for an exhibit of "artwork" by cancer patients which will go on display at CINJ this week. The shoot was a self-portrait thing that included shaving a mohawk into my head (thanks Colleen!). I'll post some pictures after the exhibit is up and running. In conjunction with CINJ, I hope to turn this into a bigger project of photographing men with cancer, and possibly making a book out of it. Not to get ahead of myself, we know to expect the unexpected, but I'll keep you updated on its progress.
