I spent last night in the emergency room at North York General. It was one of the scariest experiences I've had. First, I hate hospitals. Second, going during covid is not the best situation for someone who is immunocompromised. Third, what if something is really wrong with me.
I had been having palpitations for a few days and then came some chest pain. My nurses said to go to the hospital at that point. It could be a side effect of the chemo, bad PICC line placement, my anxiety, or a more serious problem. Not knowing what to expect will keep you up all night... quite literally.
My goal at this point is to get all the tests done so I can leave... hopefully with no needles because I have my PICC line. My blood test came back normal except that I might have a blood clot somewhere. The doctor wanted to give me a blood thinner shot but I demanded a pill instead :) The next test would be a CT scan to show any clots but they didn't open until 7am. My mom and I got comfy in our cozy room.
They monitored my heart rate and vitals through the night. However, having all these wires stuck to my body just added to my anxiety. Any beep of the machine would result in my heart racing... which would result in it beeping even more. It was like a game - Julia vs. heart monitor. 11pm to 7am.
Finally they took me for the CT scan and this time they could use my PICC line... thank god. The scan is only a few minutes. They inject the dye and then you go through the machine a couple times. The long part is waiting for results.
So, I've been at the hospital for 9 hours, had little to no sleep, and am running on tuna sandwiches. Let's say the results could not have come faster. Not only did they say I was fine... they compared the pictures to my last scan and could tell the cancer sites had shrunk. Only 5 days after my first chemo dose and there is already progress. The best news I could have hoped for.
My mom can confirm... I ran out of the hospital when the doctor cleared me to go :)
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