Cycle 5 – Day 10: The Thermometer

For the last couple of days I’ve had a sore throat and runny nose, both very annoying but not fatal… unless.

One of the things CancerCare drills into you about chemotherapy treatments is the need to be very concerned about infections. The main issue in my case would primarily be a low white blood cell count, which I have. That along with a bunch of other things make me more prone to infection.

The one thing CancerCare really emphasizes is if you have high temperature, hence this bad boy.

The “magic” number is 38°C. The advice if you see this number is to go directly to the ER, do not pass GO, just get there ASAP. Tell them you are on chemo and your are immediate bumped to Priority 2 and started on IV antibiotics. Priority 1 is in progress heart attacks and/or you’re about to die.

I’m good and the sore throat is letting up and the number above is me this morning, so no ER for me! 😀