Stinky Snot

We just spent about 6 1/2 hours in Alexian Brothers Hospital Emergency Room in Hoffman Estates. Curt has been having a lot of discharge (snot) that is thick and yellow and really stinks. This happens especially when he lies down. Yesterday he called OHSU and they said as long as he didn't have a temperature or extreme pain, it should be okay. However, the nurse said she didn't think it was a side effect of the chemo. We were concerned that he could have an infection in his sinuses, or somewhere else. Beth and the boys took us there about 10:30 AM and stayed until he finally saw a doctor after a couple hours (there were a couple computers in the children's waiting area). Beth got me something to eat before leaving. I brought an Ensure for Curt. We thought they were going to do a blood test, but they did do a CT scan about 1:45. They gave us a CD with the scan and a written report. The doctor came back after 2:30. She said the scan was hard to read because of all the things that had happened in Curt's head, and they didn't have anything to compare it with. She wanted to talk to Dr. Chui at OHSU. She thought there could be a "fissure" or something else that could be draining dead cells from the tumor or other cells that would stink. Beth left the boys with a neighbor and came back about 4. Finally after 4:30 the doctor said they hadn't heard from OHSU, but to be safe, she would prescribe an antibiotic. If his temperature rises above 100 or he has extreme pain, he should return. Then as we were leaving, they finally heard from OHSU. They said the same thing she said. We finally got out of there about 5. It was snowing an icy snow. We stopped at Walgreens on the way home to leave his prescription. When we got home, Jason was busy with the snowblower after mixing up and putting in the oven the meatloaf I was going to fix for supper. He took Curt back to get the medicine. It does seem like Curt is feeling a little better. Right now he is playing Royal Rummy.