First, I am home and doing well.

Second, before I get into the story, we need to talk about what we’re calling the Emergency Room. I’m from back east, where it’s called the Emergency Room or the ER. Here in Oregon, I’ve noticed people refer to it as the Emergency Department. I’ve even seen this labeled the ED.

I’m personally in favor of the Emergency Room label, even though it is technically a department and not a room. Why? Because the R seems more urrrgent, rrrushing to rrrrescue, the patient into care. ED seems more like education or like the DMV—not at all like an emergency. But, on the other hand, department is more suited to the amount of time it takes to get admitted to the ER. 

I need to know your thoughts and opinions on this. Please leave a comment below to tell me your feelings on ER vs. ED. If you’re from a part of the world that uses another term altogether, I’m all ears!

Back to my story now. Saturday morning I had the lovely experience of going to the hot tub, sauna, and steam room with my dear friend Bintu. This was my idea, and I was excited to do something fun and relaxing while I was on my “good week.” 

We talked and talked as we sat in the hot tub sipping our water. Then we used the steam room for 10 minutes and the sauna for about 15. Bintu kept urging me to drink more water, and I kept saying I was fine. 

I was not fine, but I didn’t realize it. I was getting dehydrated. I was more worried about my ostomy bag holding up in the public spaces—and it did beautifully! But I neglected to drink enough.

At lunch afterwards, a huge wave of fatigue and clammy chills set in all of the sudden. We rushed home, and I went straight to bed with a migraine that lasted all afternoon and evening. Meds didn’t help, and I started to vomit. Soon I couldn’t even keep the tiniest bit of liquid down without vomiting. 

Stephen called the oncology line, and we headed to the ER. They wanted to rule out other possibilities before treating my migraine, so I had an EKG, CT scan of my head (in case a tumor was causing the migraine), and a check for a stroke. Thankfully, all three tests came back negative! It was especially hard to wait for the CT scan, as a metastasis to the brain would have been devastating. 

Finally, they gave me IV hydration and a migraine cocktail which resolved my symptoms immediately. We came home at about 2am, ate something to fill our famished bellies, and dropped into bed. It certainly wasn’t the way I had imagined my relaxing spa day going.

Lessons I’m taking away: Hydration is serious business. Drink those electrolytes. Keep up with meds and be proactive. Drink more water. Avoid the sauna and steam room for now. 

Stewarding suffering is hard work.