Dizziness & Dehydration
Let me preface this by saying I will eventually call the on call nurse and see what she says, but I want opinions here first. I’ve had excessive thirst now for 36+ hours. It’s not been hot where I live, not have I participated in any even moderate activities. I’ve also had some insomnia issues for several days, likely attributable to doubling my dose of Cymbalta from 30mg to 60mg on Wednesday of last week. I drank more than 64 oz yesterday, with 40 of it being G2 Gatorade. I was in and out all last night, never really in a deep sleep. Each time would wake up, the room would spin. Over the course of the night, from 7:30-3:30, I drank a 20 oz Gatorade. I I got another out of the fridge at 3:30 and I’d got about one third left. My ostomy output is normal, while my urine output is less than I would have expected. Given all that, how concerned should I be?
Comments
-
Update
On call nurse strongly recommended ER, so that’s where we are. I’m hooked up to oxygen & bp monitors. They’re struggling a bit to access my port for fluids and pain meds. We’ve already sent off urine and blood samples for testing. They’re also going to do a new CT of my liver, as that pain increased rapidly and drastically this week.
0 -
Update
Okay, I’m now being admitted. I am running a low grade fever and my scans showed what looks like low grade pneumonia on my left side. So I’m going to get some iv antibiotics. Hopefully this doesn’t screw up my surgery on the 22nd!
0 -
your in my thoughts.....hope
your in my thoughts.....hope your feeling better soon.
0 -
Still in the hospital
So, an update...
I am still in the hospital. I am back on the 4th floor with nurses I know. The is
my first time in the hospital since early January. The pain that led to another hospital visit to have a liver abscess drained. Things were fine for several weeks. Then about 10 days before the end of chemo, it started to come back. A visit to the ER showed the fluid growing. A visit a few days later with my oncologist showed the fluid wax back. My oncologist wasn’t thrilled with it coming back but didn’t know why. A HIDA scan showed that my gallbladder win. Plans were formulated to figure out what next. We made an appointment to see my surgeon. We say him, and since it was long enough post cehmp to talk about more surgery. So in the end, it was decided that on MY 22nd, doctor’s would remove my gallbladder, the rest of my colon, remove all my reproductive organs, and fix my liver so it would stop leaning.
So back to the point, surgery is two weeks from this Wednesday. I need to be well enough for it, or it will be canceled. Right now, it is assumed I have low grade pneumonia. I had a low grade fever in the ER and what appeared to the nurses and doctors to be a low grade pneumonia in my left lung.
Today I’ve had a lot of cognitive issues. I’ve been struggling to find the words, and trying to tell stories, just blanking in the middle of a concert. There have been other issues but those had my parents insisting on a brain CT scan that came back clean.
Question: Could these cognitive issues be chemo brain, despite chemo ending more than two months ago and despite having none of the issues during chemo (I was on FOLFOX)?
So now we wait and see if the blood cultures grow anything.
0 -
My word!Inspired2013 said:Still in the hospital
So, an update...
I am still in the hospital. I am back on the 4th floor with nurses I know. The is
my first time in the hospital since early January. The pain that led to another hospital visit to have a liver abscess drained. Things were fine for several weeks. Then about 10 days before the end of chemo, it started to come back. A visit to the ER showed the fluid growing. A visit a few days later with my oncologist showed the fluid wax back. My oncologist wasn’t thrilled with it coming back but didn’t know why. A HIDA scan showed that my gallbladder win. Plans were formulated to figure out what next. We made an appointment to see my surgeon. We say him, and since it was long enough post cehmp to talk about more surgery. So in the end, it was decided that on MY 22nd, doctor’s would remove my gallbladder, the rest of my colon, remove all my reproductive organs, and fix my liver so it would stop leaning.
So back to the point, surgery is two weeks from this Wednesday. I need to be well enough for it, or it will be canceled. Right now, it is assumed I have low grade pneumonia. I had a low grade fever in the ER and what appeared to the nurses and doctors to be a low grade pneumonia in my left lung.
Today I’ve had a lot of cognitive issues. I’ve been struggling to find the words, and trying to tell stories, just blanking in the middle of a concert. There have been other issues but those had my parents insisting on a brain CT scan that came back clean.
Question: Could these cognitive issues be chemo brain, despite chemo ending more than two months ago and despite having none of the issues during chemo (I was on FOLFOX)?
So now we wait and see if the blood cultures grow anything.
You are really going through the mill. I am sorry for all that is happening to you, and hope that you get well soon, and can go ahead with the surgery on the 22nd.
As for chemo brain. I do not know how far out of treatment it can affect a person, if it wasn't present during. I would have thought that it would manifest allot sooner, but then, chemo hangs around in the body, and it could very well have just made its precence known in your brain.
Your parents were on the ball, asking for you to have a CT scan. Best to get that all ruled out. I am so glad it came out clean.
I know you and your parents will keep tabs on how the congnitive issues go. I hope they don't get worse.
Thinking of you.
Tru
0 -
I just recently read that
I just recently read that chemo brain can last for years. I definitely struggle with it. It has reduced my vocabulary and I hate that. I hate sitting trying to think of the word that fits but cannot come up with it. I hate looking like a fool because I can't think of a word. Or telling a atory and suddenly realizing I'm wandering or totally have lost track of what I was saying. I'll often go to say something and then forget what it was going to be. It's annoying and frustrating.
I've been playing a game on my phone called Wordscapes. It's kind of like a crossword puzzle game but without definitions. I think it has helped a bit. I never play games on line or on my phone but I'm addicted to this one. I hate not being sharp. My husband always says he's amazed at how quick I can be. It's usually with sarcasm (not nice) but I hate feeling like I'm dulled. He still says I'm quick but I feel like it's a struggle now and sometimes I feel almost under water and sluggish.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but it can go on. But not necessarily. The upside is that I've always had a terrible memory for certain things and now I have an excuse!
Hugs, you're having a really rough go of things and I feel so badly for you.
Jan
0 -
Thinking of you
So sorry for all of the pain and problems you have had to endure--and yet you keep fighting!! Praying that things get better soon!
0 -
Chemo brain
I believe that the chemo resides in your system for a long time after you stop, so it would be no surprise to me to have chemo brain after-the-fact. But with your current health issues it could just as well be related to your infection, or a reaction to medication. Also, things like electrolyte balances can also throw off one's thinking. I am so sorry that you are facing more challenges and I hope things get better soon.
0 -
Update
We finally met with the hospitalist this afternoon. I’m on oxygen, but not to worry about it. Depending on which doctor/nurse you talk to, I should be coughing to get the crap out of my lungs that they can see on my test scan. Apparently 4mg of dilaudid/3hours and .2mg dilaudid/as needed every 3 hours is a lot of dilaudid and is to blame for my cognitive difficulties.
The hospitalist doc thinks I’m not used to dilaudid and so it’s a problem. Never mind I’ve been on dilaudid for weeks at 4mg/3hour (taking two in the early evening then all day Thursday/Friday. And that I’ve also been on 1mg/2-3 hours.
My rapid weight gain is all water weight and so I should be drinking less than 40oz/day, never mind that no one knows why I’m suddenly crazy or suddenly gaining water weight out of nowhere. (On Wednesday as par of my pre-op physical, I weighed 153 lbs. In the ER yesterday I weighed 219 lbs. This morning I weighed 215 lbs.)
I shouldn’t worry about needing oxygen, never mind that I’m actually on oxygen.
No need to worry about what ct scan showed in my left chest, no need to worry about why my pain went from easy going to very painful overnight.
I got 1mg of dilaudid in the ER and my pain level went to zero. And as I expected (though a hospitalist in the ER told me I wouldn’t have to fight), sure enough - I’m fighting over my pain levels again. No one is willing to do what it takes to actually get my pain below a 4.
I shouldn’t worry about needing oxygen, never mind that I’m actually on oxygen.
No need to worry about what ct scan showed in my left chest, no need to worry about why my pain went from easy going to very painful overnight.
I got 1mg of dilaudid in the ER and my pain level went to zero. And as I expected (though a hospitalist in the ER told me I wouldn’t have to fight), sure enough - I’m fighting over my pain levels again. No one is willing to do what it takes to actually get my pain below a 4.
Why do I keep giving doctors a number when they’re not actually willing to do something about that number? Saturday morning, after it had already been decided that I was being admitted, but before I was actually admitted - hospitalist came to see me. I was going alright, as she and the rest of the team had done a good job in keeping me comfortable. I had gotten 1mg of IV dilaudid every hour. I was NOT incoherent. I WAS lucid. I have received that dose (and similar doses in the past) and in every situation I was lucid. I explained to that hospitalist in the ER that I wasn’t looking forward to fighting with the PA to come over pain meds and staying comfortable. I was excited enough to hear him say that he asked me why I was so excited was that every time I make the transition from the ER to being admitted, I have to fight the doctors over my medications. Dr. Whoever, I’m sorry the system failed you. It’s failed me. It will continue to fail us both.
0
Discussion Boards
- All Discussion Boards
- 6 CSN Information
- 6 Welcome to CSN
- 121.8K Cancer specific
- 2.8K Anal Cancer
- 446 Bladder Cancer
- 309 Bone Cancers
- 1.6K Brain Cancer
- 28.5K Breast Cancer
- 397 Childhood Cancers
- 27.9K Colorectal Cancer
- 4.6K Esophageal Cancer
- 1.2K Gynecological Cancers (other than ovarian and uterine)
- 13K Head and Neck Cancer
- 6.4K Kidney Cancer
- 671 Leukemia
- 792 Liver Cancer
- 4.1K Lung Cancer
- 5.1K Lymphoma (Hodgkin and Non-Hodgkin)
- 237 Multiple Myeloma
- 7.1K Ovarian Cancer
- 61 Pancreatic Cancer
- 487 Peritoneal Cancer
- 5.5K Prostate Cancer
- 1.2K Rare and Other Cancers
- 539 Sarcoma
- 730 Skin Cancer
- 653 Stomach Cancer
- 191 Testicular Cancer
- 1.5K Thyroid Cancer
- 5.8K Uterine/Endometrial Cancer
- 6.3K Lifestyle Discussion Boards