And we’re back! I got home from the hospital on Thursday, after near-death fun times with blood poisoning. This is what you worry about with chemo – you’ll get an infection that under normal circumstances would be no big deal, it enters your bloodstream, it’s transported quickly to other essential organs, antibiotics can’t stop it, and you die. Exactly this happened to a friend and colleague a couple years ago. It’s not lost on me how lucky I was to get the medical help I needed (thanks to Bob), and that my doctors were able to quickly figure out what antibiotic cocktail would be most effective in fighting the infection. Four days in the hospital with IV antibiotics and lots of IV fluids helped kill it off. I have a PICC line in my arm through which I’m doing a dose of IV antibiotics once a day until March 5. I can start up chemo again any time after that. I look forward to seeing how the chemo side effects are without septicemia symptoms piled on. Maybe it won’t be so bad. And now that I’ve got the horrible infection out of the way, the rest will be smooth sailing, right?
I’ve mentioned that because I had lymph nodes removed from my left armpit, my left arm can’t be used for blood draws or blood pressure tests any more. There was a sign on the door of my hospital room, a sign above my bed, and, lest anyone forget, a neon wristband on my left wrist warning people away from that arm. As a result, my left arm is pristine, suitable for arm modeling, while my right arm looks like an advertisement warning against IV drug use. Completely bruised and full of track marks, it’s a mess.
I got in trouble in the hospital. One night I couldn’t fall asleep, and didn’t want to bother my nurse, so I helped myself to the Ativan in my purse. The next time my nurse came into my room, I told her that I’d taken the Ativan, as I figured she’d want to track that. “What? Where did you get it?” “From my purse. Purse pills.” “’Purse pills’? You can’t have purse pills.”
Well, nobody asked about my purse pills. How else am I going to carry pills around, in my pockets? The next morning, my day nurse was sent in to take my purse pills away. They were catalogued and sent down to the pharmacy for safe keeping. There were a couple issues, as noted on my inventory sheet: Lorazepam 1mg 8 and ½ round tablets, and 4 oval tablets. (I intermingled some Norco with the Lorazepam.) And I had some medical marijuana capsules, which they listed as “Patient’s husband’s medication.” Oops.
Before I was released from the hospital, I got a lesson in hooking up the antibiotic IV infusion. The nurse blanched at the idea that I have a puppy and two kitties who would be eager to help. She stressed the importance of wiping down the counter with antibacterial wipes, and setting down a paper towel to hold my supplies.
I could see how this would go at my house. Clean off counter. Place paper towel on counter. Cat materializes out of nowhere. Cat sits on paper towel.
It’s great to be home. For those of you who like cooking for other people, our friend Mary has re-booted the Meal Train. I appreciate all of the support very much!! Bob does, too...this has all been pretty stressful for him. But he's hanging in there, gradually learning more and more medical skills.