Saturday, May 1, 2010 - Spent the night in ER

Last night felt like a flashback to the Friday 3 weeks ago when I rushed Joe to the hospital. He had a terrible pain while using the bathroom yesterday around 9:30 p.m. and proceeded to scream, cry and shake violently. It was terrible watching him go through that type of pain knowing there was not a thing I could do to help him or ease his pain. Joe had had some tingling in his hands due to the chemotherapy medication he received and I didn't know if tonight's episode was a normal reaction as well. Kevin called the doctor on call at the H/O Clinic (Hematology/Oncology). She could hear Joe screaming in the background from across the house and said we needed to bring him in to check for a possible urinary tract infection. Thankfully, my parents are still here with us and we were able to gather his medications, medical notes, and and rush out of the house in about 5 minutes. When we got to the ER they were expecting us and we were able to get right into a room to avoid sitting in the waiting room and exposing Joe to any germs. Joe had settled down by the time we arrived and was very tired. They accessed his port to get blood labs,took a urine sample and sent him for a CT scan. Since he has been given so many medicines there is a chance he can develop kidney stones, but since it is still very early in his treatment plan they thought that would be unlikely. After about 4 hours and with Joe resting, they returned to tell us there was nothing unusual in the tests and scans that they saw. We still aren't sure what happened, but Joe seems to be doing well this morning. He is a little constipated from the medications so that could have been putting pressure on the bladder area or this could have been a very rare and unusual side effect of the chemo...I don't think we will ever know. All I know is that it was a very real and intense pain for Joe, we are grateful it is over, and he has no infections. We returned home and got to bed around 3 a.m. this morning. I hope this will be the end of the urgent rushes to the Emergency Room. We are praying for a relaxing and restful weekend.