Well, just when we thought we had enough to worry about...today Callum woke up with a very swollen left arm. I always check his medication and health sheets when unusual things happen so that we can see if they are side effects of any medications or treatment. In the PICC line info it states that rarely there can be swelling of the arm, and to call the Dr. immediately. His arm was swollen and purple - like something was constricting the blood flow. He was going to have a shower and I was having some breakfast and then I was going to shower and we were going to head over to the emergency room. Well, Callum came out and said it was getting worse and we had to go now. Well, I hadn't had more than a cup or so of coffee - and anyway who has seen me in the morning knows how important that is to me! Anyway, I threw on some clothes, grabbed a travel mug and we headed to the hospital. We got to emerg and some guy outside said to Callum I wouldn't go in there - it will take 4 hours before they see you!" We kind of thought things would happen a bit faster for him, and by the time I parked the car and got back to emerg he had been processed, registered and was on his way to a bed in the ER. The took his blood pressure and checked for all signs in circulation in his body. Everything seemed to be good, and his lungs were clear (we were happy to hear that!). They took 4 vials of blood and figured he had a DVT (here is my vocabulary lesson for the day) - a deep vein thrombosis - to you and me, that means "blood clot". So....they ordered an ultrasound, and we headed upstairs to the CT/ radiology dept. And the Dr was right - it was a blood clot. Now, I don't know what you think of when you hear blood clot, but I tend to think a larger drop of blood - maybe the size of a dime or nickel or quarter, but some kind of little spot just sitting in the vein. Well, did you know that you can have a blood clot from your shoulder all the way to nearly your wrist? The Dr. referred to it as "big" and "extensive". Wow! I couldn't believe it. Now we know why he was purply from his neck on down to his wrist. He got a shot of heparin and a dose of warfarin in the hospital. We came home with 7 more heparin shots and a prescription of warfarin. I think Cal has decided to give himself the heparin - I don't think he likes the idea of me coming at him with a needle! The figure the clot was likely caused by the PICC line - however one of the side effects of Avastin is blood clots, so who knows. They removed the PICC line and they will have to put another one in before his next chemo on the 23rd. The Dr was good and he checked with radiologists and the oncologists on call before proceeding with treatment. We were there a total of 5 1/2 hours. Neither of thought that is how we would spend our Saturday, but I guess that is all part of the deal. So, now we have even more to worry about - or at least think about. The issue with the warfarin is that until they find the correct dose, he can be prone to bleeding when he shouldn't - so we should watch for that. The big concern for me about this is that the MRI had already shown some bleeding around one of the tumours in the brain, so I hope that doesn't start. The other concern is that if part of the clot breaks off it will go to the lung and cause some serious issues - it could also head to the heart and that would cause some issues. The Dr considers him at high risk for this in the next few days. So, we have to watch for shortness of breath, chest pain, leg pain, and neurological symptoms - headache, nausea, vomiting. At least he is pretty much past the chemo side effects for now, so we should know that is these happen it is due to the blood clots. It is quite scary as there is not much we can do except wait for the medication to take effect and keep his arm elevated as much as possible. It could take up to 7 days to get the correct warfarin dose. It must be pretty risky as we had the nurse, Dr and 2 pharmacists review what it does and the serious symptoms to look for.
I just wish he could have one week of feeling really well. It has been such a long road already, with few really, really good days since early April. He is about 30% done the chemo treatment, so that is good to think about. I am sure that these other things will go away eventually....there has to be better days ahead!
So...back to the earlier post....why do we stay positive? Because we need to enjoy every minute that we feel good and on top of the world. If we borrow too much worry then we will be worried all the time. We will celebrate the little victories, and gain strength for the tougher days.
I have much more I can say, but I am tired and need a break from this.
To be continued.......
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