Ellen's unexpected hospital stay

Ellen went to the cancer clinic in Layton on Monday morning because she had been running a fever and started having some bad pain Sunday night. They sent her by ambulance to the hospital by her home because they discovered that she had a pulmonary embolism (PE). Basically, she had a blood clot in her lung.

She was taking some pretty heavy painkillers because not only was this new complication painful, she also was still having some side effects from the last chemo treatment, which was giving her back spasms, and those two were feeding off of each other, keeping Ellen 'uncomfortable', to make the understatement of the year.

They did catch the PE in time that they were able to stabalize her and get her treated quickly, which was great. She will have to be on blood thinners for 9-12 months and be careful about getting cut. She will still have pain from this for a while, but hopefully that will ease soon.

Ellen is truly amazing, just so everybody knows, as if any of you had any doubts remaining. There she was, Monday night, hardly able to move because of the pain (moving set off some pretty wicked spasms), on some pretty serious pain meds, and during the worst of it, was attempting to smile and have a conversation with me and the CNA about chemo and how similar some symptoms were to pregnancy. She was incredibly considerate of the nurses, hoping she wasn't too much trouble and trying not to be a burden. The nurse told me later on that she highly respected Ellen because of that single experience with her. Her pain lessened over the next few days, and this evening she was able to mostly get out of bed by herself and we had a wonderful time laughing at MLIA stories. (mylifeisaverage.com)

Chris was a definitely Ellen's champion in the whole situation. He kept track of everything for her and helped her understand and gave her informed, accurate and considerate advice on anything she was unsure about and needed to discuss. He stayed with her most of the time with breaks given by Jack, Lynsey and I, and even stayed every night with her and fetching her things from home.

She's set to be released from the hospital later on this morning and for sure will spend tomorrow at Jack's house, though I'm not sure what else she has planned for this weekend, though I'm sure no big parties are planned.

A very large thank you to all the support that has been shown this last week from everyone, visitors, callers, and those who gave some extra prayers for her and was thinking of her. Thank you!

Last Chemo, Check!

My last chemo treatment was the 30th of December! I'm finally getting better. The clinic pumped me full of fluids yesterday (the pump was really loud this time). I cannot keep hydrated by myself. It made a huge difference and I'm finally feeling more like myself. Moving on to preparing for the first operation.

--Ellen