Possible reason for shortness of breath

Here's today's news from Steve.

First stop: Radiology
It’s Friday, so today is supposed to be chemo day. Before going for chemo, we had to make a pit stop at the radiologist’s office to find out what is making it so difficult for Tanya to breathe, and why she is out of breath after just a short walk. The radiologist is just down the hall from the oncology group, so the results of the x-ray were sent as soon as they were processed. They determined that the cause for breathing difficulty is fluid in Tanya’s right lung (the one that was treated with radiation).

Next stop: Chemotherapy room
Prior to chemo, the nurse checked Tanya’s white blood count, and the count is too low for chemo this week.

Next, next stop: Hospital
Per doc’s instructions, we headed over to the emergency room at Banner Thunderbird Hospital to have Tanya’s lung drained. Because she was armed with doctor’s orders, we were able to avoid a 36 hr. wait for a bed to open, something the oncologist warned us has happened to patients before.

Tanya will have the fluid drained from her lung and then will be able to come home. She will definitely stay Friday night (I’ll stay with her), and possibly Saturday night as well. To reduce her suffering tonight, I’ll bring her a dinner, so she won’t be eating hospital “food.”

Friday, 6:00 PM
I’m at home to let our old pooch Rikki out to fertilize the desert landscape. Tanya just called and was assigned a room but given no indication of how long her hospital vacation will be. Her spirits are, as usual, high. I’m off to pick up dinner now!