all's well that ends well

My legs and feet have been swollen since yesterday, and today so are my toes (just a wee bit). I paged the oncology nurse and told her about my condition. According to her the FEC/T (my chemo protocol) should not make my feet/legs swell so she told me to either go to emergency or see my family doctor right away. Whaaaaaaaaaat?!?!? As soon as she said emergency I got nervous. Memories of my last visit to the ER flashed before my eyes so I chose the latter (see Dr. C).

Luckily Dr. C had a spot but I had to go there ASAP. I did, and on the way I prayed really hard that the swelling was of no concern. Dr. C said the swelling could still be a side effect of my chemo since it is still in my body (yes, after three weeks it still is!). Another possibility was heat and humidity which we experienced yesterday in our city.

Dr. C checked my legs and feet. She thought it was only one leg/one foot but when I said it was both, she immediately called the hospital for an emergency ultrasound. Dr. C said that ordering an ultrasound might be an overkill but she wanted to air on the side of caution. She said that it was normal for one leg or one foot to swell but not both. Dr. C explained that in certain cases swelling might mean there's a blood clot that could travel to my lungs and can be fatal. And the chances of this happening is 1 in 1,000. My heart skipped a beat! Dr. C said it is probably nothing but she wanted to make sure it wasn't fatal. So what's next? Dr. C said if the results are normal, the hospital staff will ask me to go home, otherwise I will have to be admitted to the hospital and the doctors will give me blood thinners to cure the swelling. My mind was spinning with the info she told me and I started to panic.

Dr. C then checked my blood pressure, I said it probably wasn't a good time to do it after what she told me. Hearing the words "fatal" and "hospital" would probably make anyone's blood pressure go up! Duh!

So off I went to the hospital. I prayed hard to have normal results. I waited about an hour before a male technician called me. After about half an hour of poking and scanning my legs, my prayers worked! Thank God! The technician told me to go home because the results are NORMAL! Woohoo!!!!! I was SO relieved! It felt like a big weight was taken off my chest.

This unexpected event certainly made up for what was supposed to be a boring afternoon. But all's well that ends well! ;)