A Minor Setback

After going through the first four days of what was supposed to be the last round of ESHAP I ran into a minor brick wall. Friday was supposed to be the quickest day as far as the length of treatment but when I woke up that morning my face was swollen and my chest was feeling tight. I brought up my symptoms to the nurse as soon as I got to the Mayo Clinic and as a precaution she decided to weigh me to see if I was retaining fluid. Turns out I had gained almost 15lbs of fluid since the chemotherapy started. So my last day of treatment was cancelled and I was sent to get an x-ray which did show fluid in my lung cavity once again. Below is information from cancerbackup.org explaining a pleural effusion.

What is a pleural effusion?: The lungs are covered by a membrane or lining, called the pleura, which has an inner layer and an outer layer. The inner layer covers the lungs. The outer layer lines the rib cage and diaphragm, which is a sheet of muscle which separates the chest from the abdomen. The pleura produces a fluid which acts as a lubricant that helps you to breathe easily, allowing the lungs to move in and out smoothly. Sometimes too much of this fluid can build up between the two layers of the pleura: this is called a pleura effusion.

Causes: Pleural effusions are quite common and are often due to infections such as pneumonia, or heart failure, when the heart is not pumping the blood efficiently around the body. A pleural effusion can also be a symptom of several types of cancer. A pleural effusion usually develops if cancer cells have spread into the membrane lining the lungs, where they can lead to irritation and cause fluid to build up.

At this point I am awaiting a CT scan on Monday to see what the next step is going to be. If there is still a significant amount of fluid my doctor will drain the area in order to relieve some of the pressure. This is done by placing a small tube in between my ribs in my back and allowing the fluid to flow out into jars. Dr. Reeder will then have to determine whether or not I am going to go ahead and complete the last day of treatment or start an entirely new type of chemotherapy. I am hoping that I just have to do the last day as I am already feeling ill and don't want another weeks worth of chemicals pumped into my body! I will be sure to update my blog tomorrow as soon as I hear any news...