Beverly MingLee

In the workup phase I ran into a couple of snafu’s and caught the flu which put me a couple of weeks behind schedule. Both the primary and oncologist advised me to go to Loma Linda in Murrieta. The chest x-ray taken was negative for pneumonia and a prescription for antibiotics was ordered. It’s definitely flu season so stay warm and bundle up using all the extra precautions we’ve learned. 

Later my doctor wanted to tritrate the maintenance Prednisone down and wing me off slowly. Prednisone worked so well to keep the inflamatory process at bay, it took about a week before I started feeling my liver and spleen hurting with sharp pain on a scale of 7/10. Nausea started and again I went to the ER at Loma Linda on 11/29/22. The medical staff is excellent and mindful that I’m immunosupressed. Thankfully they’re familar with my case and know exactly what to do. Lots of bloodwork is routine. The doctor also ordered Zofran and morphine IV. I never had morphine before and I felt it right away. Surprisingly I still had pain, but was more relaxed. The CT with contrast showed an enlarged liver and spleen for sure, however the bloodwork still looks good! I follow-up with Dr. Jeong at UC San Diego BMT on Friday. I’ve been unbelievably blessed not to have needed a port placement and use my own viens for chemo and labs. 

The flu wasn’t bad compared to the effects of chemo and this onset of pain. Now everything is back on track and tending to the liver and spleen issue. Many times before in my life when there was a delay, or something else came up to slow me down, I’ve learned in hindsight God’s timing is always better. He moves ahead to make a perfect way, or saves me from any harm. So I trust in the delay and I’m incredibly thankful.