I have a reservation...
I wasn't up to writing last night, had a lot going on and just wanted to unwind.
Lisa and Robyn came up with me and stayed until about lunchtime. They both chuckled when I walked into admissions and said "Hello, I have a reservation". So did the lady working there! She checked me in, had me sign the required "you can't sue us" forms, gave us our passes and directed us to the elevators.
We find our way to the 9th floor and were directed to the room. My nurse came in and introduced herself, gave me the rundown for the day and not too much longer the doctor came in. My doctor comes in once in a while, be he and the hospital docs are always in contact for any questions or issues. The doctor said I would need a PICC put in, then an echocardiogram just for baseline. The PICC was put in in the room, relatively painless (the lidocaine still burns like a bitch!) and now I have two extra holes in my arm. They didn't initially mention it, but they did a chest X-ray to ensure the PICC was in the right place. Lisa and Robyn left after the PICC line folks came in, Lisa had to work in the afternoon anyway.
Anyone who works in a place that has central control HVAC can relate to the fact that my room was a sauna because it's heat season, 60-some degrees outside and the room faces east... They eventually dug up a lifesaver - a fan!!! And I understand the reason for the vinyl chairs, but when you can't do much but sit, they suck! I thought the soaking sweats were only at night until I spent an hour in one of these chairs!
The echocardiogram was nice to get out for a while and Robyn came back and we had dinner. The pharmacist stopped to see if I had any questions, he answered a few and I'm sure I'll have more for the next time.
I guess it was around 4 when they hooked up the IV and got some fluid flowing, then the pre-mess the help avoid side effects. At 5 the first dose of chemo started, which was a 2 hour drip. About halfway through I got a fuzzy head, but was told that is normal. Somewhere along the line I got the steroids, too. Of course they need to do vitals every 4 hours... Ugh!
After Robyn left, I just chilled and watched some tv, answered some texts and FB messages and waited for the midnight vital check. Robyn and I named the IV pole/pump Igor, Igor the IV pole. Well Igor was a bad boy last night... He woke me up about every hour form one o'clock on... Of course I was just settling in when the first alarm went off! The different med modules were taking turns going off. Thankfully nothing serious, just flow alerts. Vital check again at 4.... Next round of chemo at 5... Screw it, I'm up now!!! No chemo drunk buzz this time.
I have to say that everyone here is very nice and very accommodating. Always asking if you are ok and if you need anything (the fan...).
A lot of people have been asking if the can do anything. They figure at some point, but don't know when, I will need blood and or platelets. One thing you can do is give blood. I wholly agree the ARC "appointment " process is a pain in the ass, but that doesn't lessen the need for blood. Another thing is the register with the marrow banks. The nurse said they send you a swab, you swab your cheek and send it back. May I'll get yours, maybe your a match for some other firefighter, police officer, nurse, EMT, but should it really matter? I'll try to get some links posted, but I know you can find blood donations sites on the ARC site.
Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers, I really appreciate all of them and all of you!
Be safe, be prepared and God Bless!
I wasn't up to writing last night, had a lot going on and just wanted to unwind.
Lisa and Robyn came up with me and stayed until about lunchtime. They both chuckled when I walked into admissions and said "Hello, I have a reservation". So did the lady working there! She checked me in, had me sign the required "you can't sue us" forms, gave us our passes and directed us to the elevators.
We find our way to the 9th floor and were directed to the room. My nurse came in and introduced herself, gave me the rundown for the day and not too much longer the doctor came in. My doctor comes in once in a while, be he and the hospital docs are always in contact for any questions or issues. The doctor said I would need a PICC put in, then an echocardiogram just for baseline. The PICC was put in in the room, relatively painless (the lidocaine still burns like a bitch!) and now I have two extra holes in my arm. They didn't initially mention it, but they did a chest X-ray to ensure the PICC was in the right place. Lisa and Robyn left after the PICC line folks came in, Lisa had to work in the afternoon anyway.
Anyone who works in a place that has central control HVAC can relate to the fact that my room was a sauna because it's heat season, 60-some degrees outside and the room faces east... They eventually dug up a lifesaver - a fan!!! And I understand the reason for the vinyl chairs, but when you can't do much but sit, they suck! I thought the soaking sweats were only at night until I spent an hour in one of these chairs!
The echocardiogram was nice to get out for a while and Robyn came back and we had dinner. The pharmacist stopped to see if I had any questions, he answered a few and I'm sure I'll have more for the next time.
I guess it was around 4 when they hooked up the IV and got some fluid flowing, then the pre-mess the help avoid side effects. At 5 the first dose of chemo started, which was a 2 hour drip. About halfway through I got a fuzzy head, but was told that is normal. Somewhere along the line I got the steroids, too. Of course they need to do vitals every 4 hours... Ugh!
After Robyn left, I just chilled and watched some tv, answered some texts and FB messages and waited for the midnight vital check. Robyn and I named the IV pole/pump Igor, Igor the IV pole. Well Igor was a bad boy last night... He woke me up about every hour form one o'clock on... Of course I was just settling in when the first alarm went off! The different med modules were taking turns going off. Thankfully nothing serious, just flow alerts. Vital check again at 4.... Next round of chemo at 5... Screw it, I'm up now!!! No chemo drunk buzz this time.
I have to say that everyone here is very nice and very accommodating. Always asking if you are ok and if you need anything (the fan...).
A lot of people have been asking if the can do anything. They figure at some point, but don't know when, I will need blood and or platelets. One thing you can do is give blood. I wholly agree the ARC "appointment " process is a pain in the ass, but that doesn't lessen the need for blood. Another thing is the register with the marrow banks. The nurse said they send you a swab, you swab your cheek and send it back. May I'll get yours, maybe your a match for some other firefighter, police officer, nurse, EMT, but should it really matter? I'll try to get some links posted, but I know you can find blood donations sites on the ARC site.
Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers, I really appreciate all of them and all of you!
Be safe, be prepared and God Bless!