July 21 -- After Leslie activated the "network" yesterday to send birthday messages my way, she still had one surprise up her sleeve. When I arrived home at about 6:30 - bearing the spectacular birthday feast our friend Lindsey had prepared for us - Leslie was looking weak and short of breath. Even before I put down the food, I'd asked if she was OK.


It turned out she'd already put in a call to her doctor to report being short of breath. Amazingly, her trusted surgeon and wonderful PA were still in the office and diverted us from a an ER trip, bringing us into the empty clinic.

Leslie's lungs sounded good, but they wanted to get a new CT scan to rule out new embolisms (hard to imagine on her mega-dose of blood thinners). Dr. Yamada demonstrated her clout by getting Leslie into a private room instantly, and we wheeled across from clinic to hospital.

Emily wonderfully packed up my birthday dinner and brought it to us...arriving just in time for them to tell Leslie she wasn't allowed any food. Thankfully, Leslie didn't mind if I ate, so I enjoyed Lindsey's perfectly cooked pork tenderloin and sides, and Emily's carrot cake.


They picked up Leslie for the CT scan around 11:15 and we were back in the room by midnight (bonus: the icy CT labs have heated blankets). Due to a hospital-wide shortage of cots, I slept on the floor until 3 am, when they turned up a cot (not sure I want to know what causes a cot to become available at that hour). Leslie didn't sleep well, and the first round of med students arrived for rounds at 6:30, so we will both doze today, I expect.


The CT scan looks fine, so the good news is no emboli. Of course, that makes Leslie just what my brother-in-law Joe says you don't want to be, when it comes to doctors - interesting. The first doctor to visit said they want to keep Leslie overnight once more for precaution (releasing her tomorrow straight to chemo, we imagine), but it's not official until we hear from Dr. Yamada.


Locals, check in with me as the day progresses. If we do have to stay, visits might be welcome!


On the other hand, given the 100 degree heat and our underpowered home window AC units, staying here does seem like an extreme but effective way of keeping cool!

Update!

Home again! They didn't find any reason for the shortness of breath,  > but ruled out all the nasty possibilities, and addressed a shortage of  > electrolytes they discovered along the way. My breathing has eased  > up, and both David and I are looking forward to a good night's sleep  > before tomorrow's chemo.