Mayo Clinic Annual Checkup - The Rest of The Story

I think I have discovered air travel from here to Minnesota is much less prone to weather delays the end of June than the end of May, beginning of June. We experienced more delays and difficulties in the airport this time than we ever have both flying up to Mayo and coming back. In addition, unbeknownst to me, my absolute neutrophil count (ANC) was very low, probably around 500. Below 500 is dangerous and classified as severely neutropenic (which I was) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neutropenia . As a result, I contracted some bug (virus / bacteria no one knows). We flew Friday. I started getting sinus drainage Saturday afternoon. Sunday I had bronchitis. It only took 24 hours for whatever it was to move from my sinuses to my chest which is unusually fast. I was tempted to go to the emergency room Sunday but didn't. I started running a low grade fever Saturday and Sunday. Of course, the reason for my sever neutropenia was the cancer drugs I had been taking for the previous eleven months which had reduced my white blood cell count to a dangerously low level. But I didn't realize that was going on.

I went to see my doctor Monday with bad cough and fever of 101. She sent me down to get a chest x-ray. While I was standing in line at the receiving desk, I began to shiver uncontrollably. That continued until I got back up to my doctor's office. When she walked in, my fever was 102 and she told me I wasn't going anywhere except to the hospital.

I was put in a wheel chair and whisked off to Methodist hospital to be admitted for bacterial bronchitis. I don't think they ever did figure out what bug I had. They pumped me full of vancomyecin and cefepime (huge amounts 1.5 gm vancomyecin IV and 1 gm cefepeme IV every six hours). As you may know, these are the most powerful antibiotics available. If they won't kill what is bugging you, what is bugging you will kill you. It took two days for me to get much better. They let me out of the hospital Wednesday afternoon. Thursday I was back in my doctor's office. She told me my ANC was back up to where it should be and that I appeared to be ready to go home.

So, three days after we were supposed to leave and fly back home, we were on our way. Little did we know, we would spend all day at the airport in Minneapolis waiting for a plane which would depart eight hours late and get us in Atlanta around 10:30 PM in time to get a hotel voucher and ride a shuttle over to the hotel. Saturday, we went to the airport, ate breakfast, and waited for the 12 o'clock flight. We finally got home Saturday afternoon. What began as a short five day (two weekend days so really only three business days) in and out turned into a week long ordeal which I am still recovering from almost a month later.

After we got back home, I went back to work Monday. The cough in my chest began to return and by Friday, I was in my doctor's office. He did a chest x-ray and CBC. I neither had pneumonia nor neutropenia. But I did have this horrendous, annoying, persistent cough. He gave me an antibiotic injection and put me on a different antibiotic than the one I was taking from Mayo Clinic which didn't appear to be doing anything for me. I slowly began to get better but the cough continued. I went back to the doctor Monday much worse. I was given a nebulizer, some different cough medicine, and more pills. Friday I went back for a followup visit and was much improved. I guess the antibiotics and nebulizer kicked in. I returned the following Thursday for another follow up. I got another chest x-ray and CBC. Everything looked good except still had somewhat of a cough. I got an injection of 8 mg decadron (AKA dexamethazone) to dry me up (which did the trick and kept me up until 2 am), a new inhaler, and more cough syrup.

I am proud to say that after almost a month of suffering with persistent annoying cough, low energy, and low grade fever, I am beginning to feel like my old self again (and I am getting pretty old these days :)

Thanks for stopping by.