So it was a bit of a surprise to me after arriving at the hospital's "short stay unit" at 6:30am, getting prepped and IV-ed, carted down to radiology, having a preliminary ultrasound and the whole team assembled by 9:00 to take a biopsy, that the doctor postponed the procedure because I had not been off ibuprofen for the last 5 days.
"Didn't anyone tell you that ibuprofen is a blood thinner and that you need to stop taking blood thinners before and after liver procedures?"
Well, that's not really how I think of ibuprofen. I think of it as the stuff that makes me feel more normal after my surgery. It helps with the tightness in my gut. It helps with the backache. It even helps with the cough.
Once again, it is the paradox of having 2 cancers and 2 cancer teams. Team esophagus is all up to date on how I'm feeling and how I am dealing with all the post operative side effects and all my medication issues. Team lymphoma, however, has been waiting for the hand-off of a sufficiently healed patient to begin chemotherapy. They thought that was what they were getting until last Thursday when Dr. Scott looked at the CT scan and saw a growing suspicious spot on my liver and ordered a new biopsy. Team lymphoma did not necessarily know that I was taking ibuprofen 4 times a day and the recorded pre-op instructions I received over the phone may have said something about blood thinners but I really did not make the connection.
So the biopsy is rescheduled for next Tuesday. I have the opportunity to free myself from the bondage of pain medications and chemotherapy is pushed back at least to June.
Yeah, it is all pretty frustrating. My health is my own responsibility and this is one more reminder of the diligence required too make sure I am getting the right care.
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| "Short Stay" has special meaning to me now. |
3 comments:
Not to sound glib, but that photo makes me want to pinch your cheeks and kiss your forehead. Consider it done!
I like the comment of Sharon in the last post posing the question about the enlarged spot on your liver perhaps being a small hematoma. I like it because the experts often assume so much guided by their narrow (but profound) expertise and maybe overlook an alternative that is so much simpler. Sharon's distant perspective might actually be more objective.
And speaking of pulling teeth, the periodontist wants to pull 4 - 6 of my teeth cuz of advanced gingivitis. Seems extreme to me, my teeth feel fine and I don't want to spend $20,000 on tooth extraction and implants. Wish I had someone like your family doctor interpreting for me. I'm gonna ask him about antibiotics to treat the gum disease since they seemed to work for you.
Lee
Oh, Chuck - not more hurry up & wait! Only you could say that you have "the opportunity" to get off pain meds...
Thinking of you often, Karen
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