Clotting the Celebrations.
If you keep up with my blog, you’ll know that SharkBoy had his last chemotherapy cycle yesterday (27/03/2012) and, unsurprisingly, we were anticipating the end of this battle. I used a carer’s day at my work to be with him for the finale. But, like a lot of things lately; with the good comes the bad² ..
SharkBoy mentioned his right arm had been pretty sore and tender since he had chemotherapy in that arm (his veins don’t like cooperating with the needles, so it takes a few goes on each arm), I told him he should definitely tell the nurses on the day of his final chemo; just in case.
The day didn’t really start as planned, but when it was just the two of us in the treatment area, I couldn’t contain my happiness. I’ve been posting about SharkBoy’s Hodgkin’s Lymphoma story since late September 2011, and finally I wouldn’t have to anymore; he’d be as healthy as you or I.
But of course I wouldn’t have mentioned the bad² if this is where it ended.
The doctor on duty had a look at SharkBoy’s arm because he was concerned it could be a clot and not just a torn muscle. An ultrasound was scheduled for after his chemotherapy. I could tell he was worried. If my own concern was anything to go by, he was shitting himself right about now. The technician did the ultrasound in this huge, dimly-lit room. SharkBoy laid down on the examination bed. I sat right next to the machine so I could see the screen.
The technician squeezed a bottle of goo from his wrist, all the way up the length of his arm and on his neck too. My heart skipped a beat when the tech brought up a blown up image from the middle of his upper arm, a small black dot. She highlighted the dot and put labels around it like pulmonary, mid humerus, upper humerus, thrombus and more medical jargon which I struggle to remember. She must have taken stills of atleast 5 black areas. She changed to a different instrument which appeared to measure heat and show the blood flow. I knew it was bad. The black dots fell on the areas where the blood was flowing.
The technician said nothing the whole time until it was over. She joked awkwardly about how long the examination took and told us we should return to haematology before going home.Clearly, something wasn’t right with the ultrasound. SharkBoy and I walked as fast as humanly possible. After a long wait, the doctor who examined SharkBoy earlier, called us into his consult room. Once he had established that the ultrasound technician had told us absolutely nothing, he broke the news.
SharkBoy has 2 short (about 5 inches long..apparently that’s short) clots in the upper of his right arm. From what I have researched and what the doctor told us; there is a clot in his Cephalic vein and his Basilic vein. These are two large veins which are responsible for transporting the blood from right your hand and arm to your heart. Specifically, SharkBoy has (if I am correct on which veins the doctor was referring to) a Cephalic and a Basilic thrombus (that explains those ultrasound labels..). A thrombus is a clot formed in the vascular system which obstructs blood flow. The condition is called Thrombosis. These clots can be extremely dangerous, and are potentially fatal if left untreated. The clots can become mobile or smaller areas can break off and travel through the larger veins of the heart and into the arteries which connect to the lungs. Here the clots become stuck in the narrow blood vessels and can eventually stop blood flowing to the lungs. At this point the heart will stop because the blood can’t go anywhere. This is called a pulmonary embolism (PE), doctors take this extremely serious. Hearing the doctor explain that a patient had died of the condition last week, I couldn’t breathe. So close to the end, just to have more treatment for an additional health issue.
When SharkBoy heard “blood clot” he burst into tears. He was so angry and upset. He told the doctor he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t do anymore treatment. The doctor spoke to SharkBoy’s specialist who told us these clots are extremely dangerous within a 3 month period as they can recur in this time. The treatment would be a daily dose of a blood thinner in either an oral or injected form. Naturally, SharkBoy was inclined to go with the oral medication; Warfarin. This drug has a lot of lifestyle requirements in order for it to work correctly. You can’t drink alcohol, or eat many leafy vegetables, just to name a couple of the main ones. There are also a lot of side effects and Warfarin can sometimes not do its job or thin your blood too much and cause excessive bleeding. You’re also required to have a blood test every few days in order to monitor your platelets.
The Clexane injections were starting to sound like the best option; no lifestyle changes, no major side effects, just the anxiety of actually having to self inject into the fat of your stomach, daily.
After much discussion and reassurance, SharkBoy chose to do the Clexane injections. Because of his weight he would need to have 2 needles once a day for the 3 month duration.
It was a heavy blow. We’d made it all the way to the end of treatment and were ready to celebrate. My birthday party at the end of this week was going to be a double celebration. I can only be thankful, though, that SharkBoy is in remisson and he doesn’t have to do any more chemotherapy, and he doesn’t have to have radiotherapy. Just 3 months of needles and we can finally have normal lives again.
I injected his first 2 needles this morning. There was a bit of persuading before he finally let me do it, but we got it done. I felt like I was forcing him to cut off a finger; that’s how badly he did not want to do it. But when it’s his life on the line, I can’t let him focus on the bad things he has had to do and will have to do, to get well. If I have anything to do with it, he will get better and I’ll do everything to make him happy and healthy again. He can’t see it now, but I’m sure he’ll be used to the needles in no time and will be self-injecting without a second thought. He did have quite a severe bruise this afternoon though, which we will monitor. Hopefully we can stay on this medication and the bruising will ease.
Thanks for reading this essay; if you made it this far. I will keep you updated on both SharkBoy’s health and my birthday this week.
ellievsbear
germansingergirl
2087
pixelskylines
kianamaiart
areudirty
discoholicmusic
romaincrisis
