Iowa City ER Visit #3 - Surprise! - October 5

I went to the ER the other day, just because I had nothing better to do....said no one ever!

Denise and I drove to the ER, fully expecting that I would be admitted to the hospital again. They would not have recommended that we go in if that were not the most likely scenario. We understood that even before we called that morning.

When we arrived to the ER, they were expecting us, and immediately took us back to an ER room. There they did the usual tests - EKG, chest x-ray, blood work, and a COVID-19 test.

They were concerned about my condition because I am 7 days post-chemo - which is when my immune system is at its lowest point, nearly non-existent, meaning that my white blood cell count, including my neutrophils, were nearly 0. They diagnosed me with neutropenic fever, which means I had a temperature of 100.4 or above with low neutrophils. This is actually not uncommon for those undergoing chemotherapy.

They confirmed that I would be admitted and said that I just needed to wait for a room in the Hematology unit.

But then came the surprise. A while later the nurse came into the room and informed me that I had COVID-19. What?

The obvious question was where did I get it from? But there was no obvious answer. Possibly from someone in the hospital the week before. Possibly someone in the family brought it home from a store. We will never know for sure. And naturally, our immediate concern was for Denise's parents because of their age.

And because of that diagnosis, I would be unable to go to the Hematology unit. Instead, I would need to go to a COVID-19 unit. A room opened up there early afternoon, and I said goodbye to Denise and moved to my new home, still very surprised at this turn of events.