I did have another bowel obstruction in February, had all my same symptoms of burping and belly pain. We were able to be seen in the clinic, check my labs (which were all good), and get some IV fluids. We were able to manage the obstruction from home using my Gtube to drain and being NPO (nothing to eat or drink). This allows my bowels to rest and unkink on their own. Everything opened back up within the next day and the best part was there was no hospital stay at all!
The fact that we were able to manage an obstruction and avoid a hospital stay made Wil and I both more comfortable with starting to travel. My amazing boss, Dr. Leigh, took our whole office to Puerto Rico to a mansion with a private chef, bartender, and concierge! I packed half a suitcase with all the potential medical supplies that I never ended up needing to use.
My Gtube site did get irritated and slightly infected, probably from trying to run the weeks prior. So I don't think it is in the cards for me to run anymore. Thankfully, Doc brought a round of antibiotics which oncology and GI agreed was good to start. It cleared it up within the week.
We had an amazing and relaxing time. I'm so blessed to have my work family!
One downside to the trip was I finally got COVID. Took me three years but it wasn't too bad. I managed not to give it to the rest of my family and I took Paxlovid, which made my mouth taste like a garbage can. In the midst of this, is when my lab counts drop. I had to do curbside lab draw since I had COVID so I couldn't use my port.
My platelets were dangerously low at 28 on Thursday after my trip. Normal is 150-400. Platelets are what help your blood to clot. I had to go back the next day to ensure they were trending up and not continuing to plummet. They came up to 34 so I didn't have to get them checked until Monday. I was bruised like a peach but that's to be expected. By Monday, they were back up to 84! It is crazy how fast your body can rebound.
We weren't going let this damper our next trip! I won a scholarship through the Dear Jack Foundation which we used to go to Great Wolf Lodge for the first time. This foundation was made from a band I listened to in high school and college called Jack's Mannequin. We got to go for Friday to Sunday with all the upgrades and packages! It was such a blast and such great memories.
Wilson loved the bowling and mining experience best. Parker loved the wave pool and wore her wolf ears everywhere. They had fun using their wands to open chests and light things up. We had amazing family time and feel so blessed to spend that time together before our week of chemo this week.
2. Praise: wonderful trips to Puerto Rico and Great Wolf Lodge
3. Pray for my counts not to drop after chemo this time. For the Neulasta shot to be effective especially for my White Blood Cell counts and platelets.
4. For my next CT scan results on 4/24 to show decrease in all tumor activity for chemo #158 and #159 that week.
