Waiting - Monday

I thought I'd be posting pictures of my hike from yesterday.  Instead, my focus has shifted to my Mom.  Over the past few days she seems to have been getting worse every day.  She can't walk up a set of stairs without having to sit down half-way for a break, she's constantly out of breath, and there's bloody urine.  On top of that there are joint pains and chest pains that have been going on for a couple of weeks now.  She started the anastrozole less than a week ago, we knew there could be light shortness of breath and fatigue, but this seems extreme.  She gets out of breath just by talking to me on the phone.  My parents got back to Canmore this afternoon, so my Dad took my Mom to the hospital.  She's there for tests now, so we're anxiously waiting for news again.  I'm getting a few things together here in case I need to head out there tonight.

Fingers crossed! 

Update from 7:38pm: I think I'm getting more used to having to wait for news.  The first update I received was a call from my dad around 6pm, saying they have to take my mom to Calgary.  I can never get any medical information out of him as he doesn't seem to understand those things; just the sight of a hospital makes him uneasy.  So, I called the Canmore Hospital and with just being transferred once got the same news from a nurse.  She said they didn't have lab reports yet, but my mom needs a CT, which they don't have operational there on a holiday.

6:30pm - Another phone call from my dad.  They now know that she has fluid in her lungs. I'm supposed to check if this is a side effect from the medication. That's all we know.  I tell him to pack his stuff and things for my mom and to drive carefully.

7:00pm - I call the Canmore Hospital back (they told me to call back when they know more).  Again, I get a nurse quickly.  She doesn't know anything about my mom's medical condition, but as my mom was just being loaded into an ambulance, transfers the call to her cordless phone and lets me talk to her briefly.  She sounded the same as this morning - very out of breath.  She says the fluid in her lungs needs to be drained.

Of course I start googling this medication and any listing of fluid in lungs as a side effect. I don't come up with much.  Fluid in lungs seems to be pulmonary edema, which is generally caused by heart issues.  The anastrozole can cause infections though in about 10% of patients taking it.  I wonder what the cause for the fluid build-up is, and is this all that we'll have to deal with this time? What else may be linked to this?  I don't even know if surgery is required for this, but the placement of chest tubes seems to be done under local anesthesia.  I'll be off to Foothills in a bit.  Hoping for the best!!!