Tag: EKG

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New Day, New Challenges

It seems every day has a lot going on.

Last evening Garry received a blood transfusion along with a Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIG). He had a reaction to the IVIG and spiked a temperature. In addition to that he was experiencing some chest pain, so an EKG, bloodwork, and a nitro patch were given.
He also was having trouble catching his breath, and the nurse suggested that he might be experiencing a panic attack. Due to all of this, there was a lot of people and a lot of activity in his room throughout the night. When I visited him today, he was quite tired from all of the above and was a bit discouraged.

His sister Gail will be arriving tomorrow from North Saanich BC to see her brother. We haven’t seen Gail for the last two years and it will be wonderful to see her again.

We still don’t have the finalized bone marrow biopsy results but I am planning on being at the hospital at 8:30 AM tomorrow and hope to catch the doctors while they are on their rounds.

It seems every day has some new challenges, but in other ways, Garry is improving day by day. We still have no idea of when he might be coming home, as they need to ensure that he is not dealing with an ongoing infection given his compromised immune status

We have been so thankful for the wonderful care Garry has received this past week.

I hope we are not overwhelming you with too much data, but Garry (and Shirley too) has found that keeping the blog up-to-date with the happenings has been very helpful to keep track of everything.

Thanks for standing with us, and for all your love, support, and prayers.

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Never a dull moment

Spoiler Alert: I’m fine and all test results are good.

So, back on December 12th I started to feel an ache in my chest. Nothing significant but it felt very similar to the feeling that sent me to the ER back in March which led to the revelation of the lymphoma recurrence.

Well, I’m back in the ER. ☹️ Triage was fast but there is a 5.5hr wait, treating 50 and 23 waiting.

Backing up a bit, I kind of ignored the symptoms for a while and then when Shirley found out, she called our oncology nurse for advice. As a result they scheduled a CT scan for Dec. 24th. Symptoms continued off and on as we waited for the results which we got on the 29th.

The good news is that the CT result is very positive. The tumor is smaller, there is no spread, no damage from the radiation and everything from neck to abdomen seems OK. However, my on vacation oncologist wants me to be seen by a DR. for assessment. The suggestion is to call Urgentcare CancerCare which is sort of like an ER for cancer patients. I’ve been there once and received quick and excellent care.

A call to them results in an opinion that it’s nothing to do with the lymphoma and not a cancer issue. Initially they say I should see a cardiologist but later after a nurse/doctor consult they call back and say I should see someone now, as is go to the ER. I call my GP and he agrees.

Now I’m waiting. It’s literally standing room only in the waiting room and it takes about 45 minutes before I get a chair. There have been several ambulances and I overhear that the hospital is “full” due to a combination of COVID and post-holiday issues.

So after a 4 3/4 hr wait I’m in a bed hooked up to the monitors. A few minutes later I see the attending and we review my symptoms. My EKG is fine and so is the blood work ( aka – I didn’t have a heart attack). He doesn’t feel that my sympyoms are cardiac related. I mention that I rode the trainer for 2 hrs yesterday without any issues and his response was “That’s a pretty good stress test”. He was quite nice, wished me a good evening and I’m discharged. All is good.

Crash Card

Also good news, they didn’t need to use this piece of equipment. I’m not sure if it’s just how busy the ER is or the symptoms I presented with but I’m in the Resuscitation Room! I think they are ready for anything here. 🙂

The chest ache? Still a mystery but doesn’t appear to be anything serious.