Repair

Yesterday (Thursday) before the MRI scan I went to see one of nurses at the hospital to show her my legs. Not that they are good looking in any way, but I noticed in the morning that my left leg was slightly swollen especially around the ankle. It worried me a little. She said she would talk to one of the doctors and that I should drop by after the MRI scan. I had the scan which was a little different than all the other scans I've had. The machine made such noise that I had to wear a radio head set. I got to choose which radio channel to listen to. I picked "957".

After the scan I got to see a doctor who checked my legs and she said I'd have to go to an ultrasound examination to check if a blood clot could be the reason for the swelling. It was already three in the afternoon so I'd have to come back the following morning (today, Friday) and they'd try and fit me in between scheduled patients. Also, if my leg would start to hurt or I'd get problems with breathing during the evening or night I'd have to go to the emergency room, as then the blood clot would possibly have travelled to my lungs which can be life threatening. I was a little uneasy and started wondering if I'm now entering another phase of this disease.

Bad news seldom come alone, isn't that a saying? When leaving the car park the car window on the driver's side broke down. It wouldn't come up and I was forced to drive home with a totally open window in -15 degrees Celsius. Luckily I had a thick winter jacket, hat and gloves on and with the heater on full blast it worked out. It was a little unfortunate though that the window would break down just on this day. Our oldest kid had swimming school and I was already in a hurry to get home to pick the kids up from day care and take him to the swimming hall. Now I wouldn't dare to leave the car anywhere but rather get to a car mechanics' place to have the window fixed. We did it so that Marjo took both kids swimming (even though she had a cold) while I continued to the Nissan car dealer that Marjo had already called. They promised on the phone that someone would be able to look at it.

Well, at the car dealer the people suspected a broken window motor that had to be replaced. Unfortunately, the car repair was so fully booked it could take them over a week to have it fixed. They wanted me to leave the car there for the whole week. Not a good deal at all! Fortunately, a friend of ours working there (well, he actually sold us the car) set us up with another car mechanics' place that could have it fixed today. I jumped on the latter offer and drove off to a super market to wait for the family to finish the swimming. When we finally got home it was six in the evening and -18 degrees.

This morning I tried to cover the car window with some see-through plastic which kind-of worked. We dropped the kids off at day care and were at the hospital at nine. Marjo had to join me in case there was a blood clot in my leg because then I would have to stay at the hospital and she would have to drive the car to the mechanics'. They fit me in the ultrasound before 11 and luckily they did not find any blood clots. The doctor also checked yesterday's MRI and concluded that the swelling is caused by the cancer in the pelvic area lymph nodes which makes the flow of fluids more difficult. There were also a couple of spots where cancer was growing in such places (close to spine) where it can cause back pains, so for the first time during my cancer journey I am now scheduled for radiation treatment next week. Let's hope it will help with the back pains and prevent the swelling from getting worse. The backpains have been quite well under control though for the past few days with the pain killers. I am also not looking forward to the side effects, let's hope they will be on the milder side. The doctor said they are typically diarrhea and nausea but not as bad as with chemo.

After the ultrasound we drove to the car mechanics' place and had a long lunch in a near by restaurant while waiting for them to fix the window. Just in case we will not be opening the window for the rest of the winter though.

So it was a day of pretty ok news: no blood clots and car window working. Oh, and my oldest sister from Oslo came for a visit for the weekend!