Carol is in the hospital again.
She's been in pain for about two months. Not her back.
Her left side, around the mastectomy scar. It became
progressively worse, to the point that she could not lay
down to sleep because it felt like she couldn't breathe.
Pain meds gave relief but didn't fix anything.
We've mentioned this to her oncologist several times.
Response was always that after such major surgery it
isn't surprising that there would be some pain around the scar.
Her surgery was more than two years ago. Not last week.
And the pain was getting worse... not better.
The pain has brought her to tears almost every day for the
past few weeks.
I had to get louder with the medical professionals.
Finally, they ordered a CT scan. The results from that
raised red flags. On Friday they ordered an MRI.
Those results got her admitted to the hospital.
They say what they saw isn't cancer but an infection
in her spine.
Friday night they did a bone (spine) biopsy. They need to
determine what type of infection it is before they will
administer antibiotics. So far, they have no idea what
caused the infection but it appears that the infection has
eaten away at a couple of vertebrae.
They won't have the biopsy results until Monday because,
you know, hospitals work with skeleton crews on weekends.
So in the meantime she is loopy on pain meds but is
getting nothing that might actually get rid of the infection.
Because they ignored her and didn't look closer sooner,
the situation could be much more serious than it might
have been two months ago.
They're bringing in an infectious disease specialist but also
a bone specialist who will evaluate the damage to the
affected vertebrae and determine if surgery will be needed.
I feel so bad for her. She's been scared to death that all this
was more cancer. I just hope they are telling her the truth.
I really, really want to punch someone. Hard. Many times.
She's been in pain for about two months. Not her back.
Her left side, around the mastectomy scar. It became
progressively worse, to the point that she could not lay
down to sleep because it felt like she couldn't breathe.
Pain meds gave relief but didn't fix anything.
We've mentioned this to her oncologist several times.
Response was always that after such major surgery it
isn't surprising that there would be some pain around the scar.
Her surgery was more than two years ago. Not last week.
And the pain was getting worse... not better.
The pain has brought her to tears almost every day for the
past few weeks.
I had to get louder with the medical professionals.
Finally, they ordered a CT scan. The results from that
raised red flags. On Friday they ordered an MRI.
Those results got her admitted to the hospital.
They say what they saw isn't cancer but an infection
in her spine.
Friday night they did a bone (spine) biopsy. They need to
determine what type of infection it is before they will
administer antibiotics. So far, they have no idea what
caused the infection but it appears that the infection has
eaten away at a couple of vertebrae.
They won't have the biopsy results until Monday because,
you know, hospitals work with skeleton crews on weekends.
So in the meantime she is loopy on pain meds but is
getting nothing that might actually get rid of the infection.
Because they ignored her and didn't look closer sooner,
the situation could be much more serious than it might
have been two months ago.
They're bringing in an infectious disease specialist but also
a bone specialist who will evaluate the damage to the
affected vertebrae and determine if surgery will be needed.
I feel so bad for her. She's been scared to death that all this
was more cancer. I just hope they are telling her the truth.
I really, really want to punch someone. Hard. Many times.
