www.cancermonster.net

Everything went smoothly today. I wanted to clear up something that was cleared up for me: The fluid is not IN my lung but in the cavity between the chest wall and the lung. I was very relieved to hear that. (Whether it makes a difference in the scheme of things, I don’t know for sure.)  This fluid pushes against the lung, compressing it and causing the shortness of breath. They were not able to take out all the fluid today. There is a safety margin that they cannot go over for fear of collapsing the lung. This may have been my first Thoracentesis but not the last.

A sample of the fluid that was removed will be sent to the lab for testing. They want to know what started it. Sometimes an infection or pneumonia will cause this kind of build-up. In that case, I was told, the fluid would be clear. My fluid wasn’t clear. It included blood. Not uncommon in my situation, I was told. Click here for a site that I found informative on Thoracentesis.

How do I feel now? I had a long nap when I got home and now I can breathe deeper. There is still fluid in there. Walking up and down the stairs of a three story townhouse is not all that fun. I just can’t go from the basement level through the living level, to the bedroom level in one trip. I am believing that all this will improve with the chemo. As long as I get somewhere and sit there a while, it’s cool.

I see Dr. R at 8:00am tomorrow morning, At some point, I will be climbing in a chair for a new round of Chemo. I have no idea what time that will be, or how long it will take, except that I won’t be admitted to the hospital for it. (Lord willing.)

Now, I need to eat some of this dinner that Dan set in front of me. (He didn’t give me a napkin on purpose - so I can’t spit it out in it…)

I’ll catch ya tomorrow. Maybe.