I ended up taking a Lorazapam (Ativan) & was able to get some sleep. I was right on about my hemoglobin(Hgb)...it was 8.2 but there was nothing said about a transfusion...just that I was cleared to proceed with chemo even though my white blood cells(WBCs) & Platelets were low. I didn't push the issue about the low Hgb while getting my chemo & I should have. I waited until I got home & unfortunantly Dr. Orr's new nurse doesn't seem to really know what to do. I called her initially to discuss when I'm to have a PET scan...as by what I have received I was to have one on the 19th but when I called to see what time it was to be there was not one ordered. She had to talk to another doctor's nurse to see when it should be done & they were saying not for 3 weeks after chemo & she didn't know why it had been set up for the Sep. 19th. She was going to check that out more but before she tried to say goodbye I asked about the low Hgb & told her my concerns about not having a transfusion ordered. She tried to tell me (an ER doc) how dangerous transfusions can be. It was all I could do to try & keep myself controlled (which I will admit I wasn't doing very well). She now knows I'm an ER doc and that I don't feel the transfusion dangers outweight my need for blood.
I know she doesn't know what all is happening right now with both Bruce & me, either, but hopefully everyone understands now. I will be getting a transfusion tomorrow...I may be there all afternoon but that's better then going without. I had told the person that does the scheduling that if they weren't able to schedule it sometime in the next couple days then I would just wait until after Bruce's surgery as they were trying to schedule the transfusion for next week or this Thursday (we have attorney appt Thursday for signing advanced directives, etc & wills...don't want to postpone that either. There is no way I am not going to be at the hospital with Bruce when he has his surgery & the surgery could be as soon as the end of this week or sometime next week. We will know after he has his treadmill stress test tomorrow. He had his echocardiogram today which the cardiologist has probably already read as his tech said he would be reading it before the end of the day. Hopefully Bruce will get the "all clear" & we'll can get the surgical date scheduled.
I'm sure I will be taking more Lorazapam tonight as my legs are killing me now & of course I'm wide awake. I got started on my Oil Protein Diet...not bad at all but I didn't pick a very good combo of lettuce greens...some are pretty bitter tasting. We'll see how the next few days go.
Vicki will be going with me tomorrow since I get my blood drawn at 11:00 & then the blood has to be cross matched & could take quite awhile. I'm thinking we could possibly be there most of the afternoon so I will be taking my lunch with me & Vicki can either have a box lunch if we are in the chemo area or we'll get her something somewhere. I better go get my salad packed & get the laundry folded. Brannon has the day off so he is coming over to get the horses out & barn cleaned for us...Bruce's appointment is at 08:45 & I don't think I will have the energy to get the barn cleaned before I need to get ready for my appointment at 11:00. We got hung up in traffic today & were 10 minutes late...can't be late tomorrow after all the fuss I made today to get this transfusion scheduled when it was good for us.
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