Chemoembolization Aftermath

The week following my Chemoembolization procedure with Prof. Vogl brought some interesting developments.

I have had daily, low grade fevers for over 4 months now, mostly in the 37.5 degree range and up to 38 degrees Celsius at times. Since the Chemoembolization procedure, this increased to 39 degrees and I have been waking up several times a night drenched in sweat. Interesting.

I had an ultrasound and was shown dark spots in the centres of most tumours, which I was told is necrotic tissue resulting from the procedure. Unfortunately I did not have the same ultrasound prior to the procedure, so I can’t be 100% certain that the necrosis is new. But I will assume that it is, as this may also explain my fevers.

The day after the procedure I was still in a great deal of pain, caused mostly by my swollen liver. I had my first hyperthermia session booked for that day, but I decided to postpone it for a day. Things slowly improved however and by the evening I was mostly back to normal. The following day I was feeling great and had my Hyperthermia treatment. The third day after chemoembolization, events took a turn for the worse. I woke up with severe pain in my groin. I informed the doc, and he seemed to think it was normal to have local pain at the chemoembolization entry site. I was not so sure.

The following day was a saturday, and things got much worse. Simple actions like standing up, sitting down and walking became a major challenge. I though some light exercise may help, so decided to go for a short walk and do some shopping. I just needed some milk and a thermos flask to make some MAF314 probiotic yogurt. In hindsight, Not the brightest idea I ever had. At the checkout, not one, but two older german ladies offered to give me their place in the line. I must have been quite a sight. 🙂

Sunday was worse still and I did not even try to get out of bed unless I absolutely had to. Fortunately there was no pain if I was still and did not move. I ended up sleeping most of the day.

Monday the pain was a little better, but not by much and I started thinking that I may have a blood clot, especially since the pain was much lower than the incision site where the femoral artery had been accessed. I went to see the Hallwang doc and he did an ultrasound. Luckily no blood clot, but I was told that a muscle had been damaged during the chemoembolization procedure. Apparently its rare, but can happen. (I love how these rare things seem to always happen to me.)

Despite the persisting groin pain, the Removab treatment is still going ahead today, but that is another story…