Sunday, December 12, 2010

Refilled and Recharged

On Friday I went to the infusion room at the cancer center for my blood transfusion.  The worse part of it all was listening to them rattle off all the "what if's" before they started.  It was like listening to a TV commercial for some type of medication where they give you all the side effects that could ever happen in 20 seconds, speaking so fast that you can only hear words like "bleeding", "lose of eyesight" or "death".  The blood transfusion, however, was quite uneventful.  Just weird thinking that someone else's blood is now in my body traveling all over helping to make more blood.  But, thank God, it is doing its job!  My poor husband had just had major dental work done a couple days before and was still a little swollen and sore, but he came to be with me the whole day.  What a trooper!  I was willing to do it myself, but in hindsight now, I am so glad he came.  The transfusion took about 3 hours, and then the muga scan about another couple hours.  By that time, I was so tired I was glad to have him to lean on.

The infusion center was a step up from the chemo ballroom.  It had TV's overhead and a remote and earphones for the patient.  They also served lunch from the hospital cafeteria...and it was good!  I was so happy to see that one of the nurses from the chemo ballroom also worked in the infusion room and she was my nurse for the day.  It was very comforting.  What wasn't comforting was that in the middle of my infusion, we all heard the fire alarm go off.  Usually, those things are turned off quickly as someone discovers the cause is more mechanical than anything else.  But the alarm kept going and the word was passed that we needed to GET OUT!  So, here we are, gathering our stuff and nurses throwing blankets over us and pushing our IV poles into the lobby and then outside.  Quite an adventure.  The fire department arrived and about 10 firefighters came inside and quickly discovered it was indeed a mechanical problem.  So, we were allowed back in and hooked up once more.  Just a little diversion...but a cold one!

After the transfusion, my husband and I headed over to the hospital for the muga scan.  The scan itself is not a horrible one, so I wasn't too worried.  I was only anxious about the results and about the blood I knew they would have to draw before the scan.  But the nurse there was really good and got the blood quickly (I guess it also helped that I just had a refill!)They mix this with a little radioactive stuff, let it sit for 1/2 hour, and then re-inject you with it just before the scan.  This scan has a thin table to lie on with a pillow for your head surrounded by a couple posts to make sure you don't moveYou are asked to put your hands over your head, and then the table enters the chamber and the scan clicks its way around your heart.  Your head is just about sticking out, so it's not too uncomfortable.  And it is over in about 15 minutes.

We no sooner got home, then a nurse from the oncologist's office called to say that everything was OK.  She knew I was worried, and wanted me to know the results before the weekend so I wasn't anxious all weekend.  I so appreciated that!

The next day, we went to breakfast as usual, and I was feeling a little better.  After resting a bit at home, we decided to go and get our Christmas tree.  We had been hoping to do this with my son and his family, who once again could not make it here due to my granddaughter being sick.  But, we still needed a tree, so went to a local church where they also had some wreath making, hot chocolate and donuts, music, etc.  It was fun and after decorating the tree, I was done.  I took another nap, and then we had some company who came to cheer us up and share some cheer for a couple hours.  It was some good friends and my favorite nephew and "old-same".  It felt so good to be with them and to almost feel like I could be "normal" again.  I did "poop out" on them and put my pj's on before they left and told them I needed to go to bed.  But, they are all good friends, so I knew they understood.

Today was Sunday and it was an absolutely miserable day.  My husband gave me strict orders not to go out and to stay in bed and rest some more.  I took his advice, called the Pastor to tell him I wouldn't be there, and then went back to bed.  I was tired from all we did the day before, and watching the weather glad I didn't go out.  But I am feeling better and stronger and so glad to be feeling this way.  Just appreciate feeling good....it's after you feel so bad....you realize what a gift feeling good can be.  

My final word is to watch out for vampires, but know if you do come across one, you can always get a refill at the infusion center and be recharged and ready to go!

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