This topic contains 25 replies, has 15 voices, and was last updated by mhnevill 12 years, 4 months ago.
I am.
I suffered a three day bout of five star constipation in the week leading up to Saturday 30th of June. Then Janet had a cough which shook the house for five or six days… with me duetting with a dose of the other kind of motions. Then, on Wednesday, 4th of July, I started with a grumbling tum and complimentary gripes… which are, only today, starting to recede.;-)
In the interim… from Thursday AM to this morning, I had a 'silly-games' temperature… with the highest being 37.89 and the average coming in at 37. 58. Not high enough for me to ring in '38.0' but high enough to keep me on my toes and feeling rather uncomfortable along with my other symptoms.:-S
Of course the temperature readings coincided, once again, with a weekend… with my local surgery shut down and the haematology units under fire with the usual skeleton staff and a lack of 'bleep' nurses. So I took paracetamol (two doses over the weekend) which I know is a definite 'no, no' if you have a fever… but I didn't have a fever. But I felt rotten nonetheless.:-P
I thought of going into the day case unit this morning but chose to phone my local surgery instead. I was told to come in after surgery and saw a GP… not my GP but one I had seen before and thought him thorough. I just wanted to be examined and then given a course of anti-biotics…. although the forty yard journey from my car to the surgery left me cream crackered… on the first time out of the house in fourteen days.:-0
And thorough again he was. He was loathe to give me anti-biotics without testing but recognised that something had to be done. My temperature was normal, as was my blood pressure… but my pulse was racing slightly and he said I had a touch of tachycardia. He though that I definitely had some sort of abdominal infection. Reading my notes he also wondered if my HGB was too low and that I might need blood. He also said that I looked very pale and my excessive sweating concerned him. He was minded to admit me to hospital… or at least refer me to the Haematology Day Case Unit at my hospital.:-(
I said that I had been in this position before, with infections etc., and that it being clinic day at the hospital the chances are that I would be seen by a registrar at best but most likely by an intern who would conduct a thorough examination and then, after consulting higher up, give me a course of anti-biotics. He said he didn't want to send me home without back-up or a safety net… so:8-)
He rang the hospital and spoke to one of the Registrars… who said I should have rung in, regardless of temperature, if I felt unwell (a new one on me I must admit). But given the circumstances he felt that I should be sent home with a course of AB's. 😛
The GP reluctantly agreed with this course of action but gave me my AB's… with the proviso that I ring in first thing tomorrow, regardless of how well/unwell I felt and then he made an appointment to see me at 10am on Wednesday… only to be cancelled if I felt absolutely Tickety-Boo.:-)
I left, highly impressed and extremely grateful to the GP… one of the most thorough and conscientious GP's I had ever met.8-)
Janet waited for the Meds and sent me back to the car… I barely made it… feeling as fatigued and washed up as I ever have since this MM journey started. Janet got me home and on top of the bed and here I remain… with lots of liquids and my AB's for company.:-(
So here's hoping that I am feeling something near Tickety-Boo by Wednesday… because I am proper fed up I am.:-P
Dai.
Oh dear Dai,
Hope you are soon back on your feet.
Love Helen
Hello Dai
I'm glad you got yourself sorted at the GPs the clinic toady was very very busy! I've had to go back to pick up kevs ABs over a two hour wait was not good, after being in clinic for nearly 3 hours kev had had enough, hope the ABs will do the trick Dai and you are feeling better soon!
Take care liz xx
Hi Dai
Well what a game and a half you are having 🙁 but am pleased you are getting the treatment you should be having.
I know that Anti Biotics shouldn't be given out willy nilly but us MM'ers need them to be given at first click of an infection.
I also home you are "Tickety-Boo " by Wednesday and for longer.
Keep well My Friend.
Tom "Onwards and upwards"
Hi Dai,
You even make being I'll sound entertaining. Hope you are feeling better soon 🙂 🙂
Vicki and Colin x
Hello Dia
Sorry you not been well again I am most impressed with that GP lets hope you can see him when ever you go to the surgery next hope you feel better soon:-)
Love Jo
Dear Dai,
So sorry to hear you're going through this. I hope you've got a good book to read…. Let us know what happens.
It's always difficult to know when to report to hospital! When I was on my induction chemo I got temperatures over 38 a number of times. I went to the local surgery and I could tell they felt it was too big a responsibility to decide what to do with me given the myeloma. So each time I got bundled off to hospital which is an eighty mile round trip. On the first occasion my temperature dropped about half an hour after I arrived there. I was kept in for a very uncomfortable night with lots of tests on my heart etc. I remember sitting in a chair with electrodes taped to different parts of me while other patients in the ward coughed, moaned and spluttered their way through the night. In spite of how I dislike being 'interned' anywhere, the next time my temperature hit 38.7 I told my local doctor about it and before I knew it, I was on my way for a repeat of the first experience. I never did find out what was causing the weird elevation in temperature. Maybe immunomodulatory drugs cause a drop in neutrophils and the body has to fight harder to resist infections….
Good luck,
Eva
Hi Dai
Sorry to hear your feeling poorly.
Hope it passes soon
Love Ali x
Dear Dai,
So sorry to hear that not only you bit Janet as well, have been feeling so under the weather. It does not sound like fun in the Crowther household. I am particularly sorry to hear of your fatigue and low energy levels. I know how awful that is, it is one of the things that gets Steve down the most, that terrible ennervating exhaustion. You know you must listen to your body and rest even though I know you will want to be up and doing. Hopefully a few days rest and the antibiotics will kick in and give you some relief soon.
I do hope that you are feeling much better very soon and that you can steer clear of any other nasties for a good long while,
Love to you both, Mari xx
Hi Dai.
Sorry to hear you and Janet are not feeling well I hope you both have a speedy recovery.
It's strange how our different hospitals have different guide lines. I am told if I ever feel unwell or if my temperature stays over 37.5 for more the 3 hours or if it exceeds 38 to ring the hospital ASAP or if it's during the week in day unit hours to go straight there.We have 24/7 access to the haematology ward. I guess it probably because our hospital is smaller than Nottinghams. When I had a temperature of 37.8 I was thoroughly examined and sent home with antibiotics and told to report back the next day which I did and my temperature had risen to 38.9 I was then put immediately put on a drip and admitted for a 4 night stay on IV antibiotics and hydration. They never discovered what the source was.
Keep the thermometer handy Dai and check regularly.
I hope your run of bad luck is over soon.
Get well soon – both of you
Andy
Hi Dai
Well in truth you have been here before,and you know the routine,but you know you will get over this little hurdle,you both sound if you need a bit of a break and some pampering!!!!,can you do anything about that, I know as a carer how much it takes out of me,some times I just want me time.years ago i use to cook for England,I realised this was a away of forgetting my problems,because when you cook in quantity you have to focus on it.
Can you and janet just get away to a Pamper day lots of offers on the net,a day just being waited on and doing nothing but relaxing.
Worth thinking about.:-S Love Eve
Hi Dai, I know I'm hijacking your post but I'm feeling absolutely terrible also. I took your advice and got some Movicol and the constipation issue has now been sorted out. I still get cramps in my abdomen but not as bad as it was. The main problem is fatigue and coincides when I stop taking the Dex starting on the second day. I am also getting very bad leg cramps in particular my left leg behind the knee.This is disturbing my sleep as the pain is so bad it wakes me up during the night. I think the problem is the Dex because of the level of dose I'm taking and I'll be asking the hospital about it when I go for my next appointment. My temperature is ok but energy levels are very low which is the hardest thing to deal with at the moment.
Hope things get better for you very soon Dai.
Keith.
Hey Keith
I am on nothing,zilch at the moment but I tell you M8 I have been that fatigued (my word for fatigue 😉 ) i find it hard work to walk the bloomin Yorkie Lol, but most days I am spot on 😀 , energy levels have dropped a fair bit since getting MM I need more sleep than I did before? I ache more I??? hang on that could just be my old(er) age Lol, but whatever it is Keith I have come to the conclusion if its too much it will wait till later (except wee Charlie the Yorkie he needs his wee walk lol).
Hope your soon sorted with the legs also
Tom "Onwards and Upwards"
Hi Keith.
I think it's the Revlamid that causes the cramp. I get it also though not to bad. My feet and calves are the main culprits though I did used to get some stomach cramps too. I also suffer fatigue on the second day off dex. The reason I don't think it's dex causing the cramps is I've been on dex at the high level a while now whilst the cramps started when I started on the Revlamid and usually come on after I've taken Revlamid.
Hope this helps.
Andy
Thank's Tom&Andy for your replies. I phoned the Hospital today to arrange my future appointments and explained the situation regarding the tiredness and cramps. The nurse said it could be down to a drop in potassium levels and wants to take blood tests to find out what's going on. She also said that blood needed to be tested on a week to week basis although no advanced appointments were made when I was there last week. I am also experiencing spasms in my right hand which I had when I was on Velcade when the dose had to be reduced. They might try reducing the steroids on a sliding scale rather than all at once to prevent withdrawal symptoms. I was told that the steroid dose would be cut after the fourth cycle which will mean taking them first four days only. They prefer to throw as much as they can at the MM in the early stages.
Keith.
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