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After I was discharged from the hospital, I spent a good amount of time being followed closely by oncology and palliative care. A few days after I was released from the hospital, I was supposed to have an appointment with an oncologist and I needed some blood work. They were also going to use this blood work to see if I needed a transfusion, as that was something that had been somewhat up in the air when I was admitted.

I was sure I would need a transfusion, as I had been feeling tired and weak, and these were the signs they said I would see if I needed one. So My dad and Peter took me to the Kaiser office to get the lab draw, where I asked them if I should stay for the results, since I was so sure I would need an infusion. They told me to go up to oncology on the 3rd floor. The combo of the drive to Kaiser, plus being in a wheelchair up in an elevator made me very queasy, so by the time I got to oncology, I was not looking well.

I always carried a basin with me, in case I needed it (and I sometimes did). In this case, I looked very close to needing it, so they put me in an oncology exam room and called for someone from palliative care to come take a look at me.

A while later and my tummy had calmed a bit, but I still looked peaked. When the palliative person came to see me, they were concerned about a number of things, including the fact that I had taken some “roto-rooter” medication and still had not seen much movement from that yet. They were concerned about a possible intestinal blockage, so they sent me over to the ER, quickly escalating what had started as a routine visit for blood work.

The ER was no fun at all, but I looked to be in better shape than several other people there, at least. It was a long wait, but finally I made it in. Peter and I sat there, praying I would not be admitted to the hospital yet again. By the time I was seen by a doctor, the “roto-rooter” medicine had finally taken effect, many hours after they thought it should have. They looked at my blood work, and found that instead of being alarmingly low, like it had been when I was admitted, it was actually improving quote a bit! They gave me some IV Compazine for my nausea and I was soon deemed stable enough to be released! It still took us many hour, but I was just so, so grateful not to be back in the hospital.