A trip to the ER

Mom called this morning about 9:20 and said the left side of Les's neck was swollen and painful. A call to the Dr. confirmed what we thought...a trip to the ER. We got to Lakeside about 11am and they took some blood and did a CT scan of the neck area to see if it was in the lymph nodes, an abscess or something else. Les didn't or was unable to answer questions, so it was hard to know exactly what he was feeling.

Around 2:30, we received word that he had an infection in his parotid gland (a salivary gland in your cheek), which explains the higher white cell count yesterday. They are treating him with antibiotics and he was back at the Center around 5pm. We hope the swelling and the pain are gone in the next 48 hours. If not, he may need to go back to see if there is more than the infection causing the problem. We'll also need to watch his swallowing to make sure he doesn't aspirate something into the lungs. Chemo has been pushed back another week to make sure the infection is completely gone.

Communicating with him continues to be challenging. Mom has even resulted to the blink once for yes or twice for no...and we think that is working sometimes. ? Who knows. Please pray he remains fever free, the pain and swelling go down, and he is able/willing to share how he's feeling. Thanks.