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I guess I am posting this here because it is not so much cancer related but more a matter of life in general... First off, I am not sure what the last thing I posted was so I will just go back to the last time I was in the hospital last month... I had a chemo treatment around June 4 and they gave me a neulasta shot to help with my white blood cell count. The last time they had given me that I did wind up in the hospital a week later and this time was no exception. I had stopped by the emergency room for some reason on the 8th and I was sick all weekend and went into the hospital on the 11th. While I was there they found pulmonary emboli in my lungs. I have been on oxygen and blood thinners since then... June 11 was supposed to be my break week from chemo anyway so it was no big deal that I was in the hospital. But I wound up having to drop my class because the instructor was refusing to take any more late work from me. Oh well...I talked to my academic adviser and did the paperwork to have a 6-week break from school and to get a tuition credit when I do repeat the class (I had completed over half of the class 4 of 6 weeks). I just hope that my health condition improves enough by the end of the month that I can work unimpeded in the remaining three classes to complete my degree. It should be done by early December unless I need additional breaks. I got out of the hospital June 15 and as soon as I got home the oxygen equipment was waiting for me. This is the second time I have had to be on oxygen and I hope it is the last because it is a royal pain! The weekend went well, but then I had an appointment for my next chemo on the following Monday (June 18). At that point my white count was still low. I was really concerned because my ankle was really swollen and the nurse taking care of me reported that to the doctor. I wasn't able to get chemo, but I was told that if my red count kept going down I would need to get another transfusion the next week. On June 25th I was told that my white count was STILL low and that was the first time that had happened to me. I was so sure that the treatment would take place since usually it only takes a week to get back to normal. It wasn't a totally wasted day because they gave me a liter of fluids but they also scheduled me to come in the next day to get another two units of blood. They also decided to do an ultrasound on my legs to make sure there were no clots there because the swelling in my ankles was getting worse. Last week I went in again and they just gave me more fluids because they said my creatinin was high (at least I didn't need more blood!). They had the NP come down and check me out and scheduled me to see the pulmonary doctor at the end of the week. That appointment had originally been scheduled for August 20! That would not have been good at all! I went to the appointment on Friday. The doctor listened to my lungs and then another doctor came in. They told me that it could be one of two things...I either have an infection or I have heart failure...I think either one of those would not be good, but based on the swelling I think the latter is more likely. They did an echocardiogram (an ultrasound of the heart) and I should have the results of that on Monday. Also on Monday, they will be taking a fluid sample from my lung and in the afternoon I am scheduled for chemo again but in light of these other issues it may be delayed yet again...we will see... Sorry this is so long, but I wanted to make sure I got everything in. I hope everyone else is doing well! Have a great weekend!!!