Saturday Night Fever

I had been advised to report any fever that was over 100.5 degrees. 

I had been running a fever since Friday night, and by 11:30 Saturday night, it was up to 101.7. 

I had a couple of telephone consultations with the doctor on call from the oncology practice, and to make a long story short, he told me to go the ER at Providence Medical Center. It was a fairly quiet night there, and I was seen almost immediately. I had a lot of tests at the hospital and although there was no systemic infection found, I do have neutropenia: my white blood-cell count is quite low. 

I was given intravenous pain medication (I was also experiencing some pain at the tumor site.), fluids, and an antibiotic, all of which took a long time. David was there for the whole dreary experience. He spent some time reading a book, while I found myself watching, among other things, a 30-minute vacuum-cleaner infomercial on TV. I found myself wondering how many people are inspired to call the 800 number at 3:30 a.m. to take advantage of the 40% discount and free shipping. 

There was some discussion about keeping me at the hospital, but the doctors decided to send me home.

We finally left the hospital at 4:30 a.m. 

After a few hours sleep, David went to the pharmacy to get my prescription filled for the antibiotic pills which I am to take for the next week.

Not a great weekend for either of us.