Over the bout with hives and going great again, until, yes there seems to always be a catch. Had a busy weekend and did not feel 100% but thought it was just that I had been on the go. Sunday night and early Monday morning I knew it was something else. I began to feel dreadful and was unable to sleep, had extreme cramps and burning on eliminating. Knowing if I went to the emergency room at my local hospital, I would be sent onto a hospital in Fort Worth. Our local hospital is not equipped to handle dialysis patients because they have no dialysis machine or anyone who can do the procedure. I was to be a dialysis at 5:45 AM so decided to wait until I could get there and have them handle it. Dr. Shorie was to be there about the time I was to come off the machine so we waited to see what he said. I needed the dialysis anyway and it was best to keep on schedule. I pretty well knew what it was and he validated my thoughts. I had an infection and he prescribed an antibiotic (Levaquin 250 mg).

It is pretty powerful because it started to work within hours. Monday afternoon I was unable to stand or walk without becoming very dizzy, lightheaded and sick at my stomach. By Tuesday morning, I was feeling much better….human again. He told me to be careful and get a lot of rest for this week. Now this is hard to do at this time of year and there are many places I would rather be than resting. But I am because I want to be stronger for the holidays.

Not much has changed; I am still on dialysis and receiving blood and platelets. I was able to go for about 2 ½ weeks before receiving transfusions but when I was tested on Monday, they were back down to a dangerous level. The platelets were 11,000 and the hemoglobin was 8.1. I have had no difficulty receiving the transfusions since the time at M. D. Anderson when they tried to give me the blood too quickly and put me into fluid overload…. until Monday. At the end of receiving the two units of blood, I began to have a severe reaction. My throat started swelling to the point I could barely talk to tell them I was having a problem, I was itching all over and was having difficulty breathing. I must have been quite a sight because I was broken out in hives and when someone came into the room, their eyes certainly got bigger. They ordered blood and urine testing-STAT- but that all proved to be o.k. They contacted my doctor and were told to stop before giving me the platelets and give me steroids (Decadron). They were wonderful and someone stayed with me constantly for the duration of my difficult time. Eventually I was able to talk, the itching subsided and the hives went away other than on the inside of my throat. It has taken a couple of days for my throat to clear up. They do not know what caused the problem so I just look at it as another bump in the road.