Whirlwind Week
Monday: I got a call that they scheduled me for chemo on Wednesday at 9:15 am. I told the scheduler "No. I don't have port in & I specified Thursday so my husband could come with me",
She transferred me to the oncology nurse. She told me someone at the surgeon's office had dropped the ball on scheduling the port and the infusion nurse jumped the gun on scheduling chemo. She knew I wanted Thursday and Friday.
Monday afternoon I spent it in a daze. I cried for no reason, I was angry, stressed and frustrated. Shit just got real! Monday evening after Brandon got home I went to Publix to buy the stuff on my "Chemo Shopping List" and to Walgreen's to pick up my prescriptions. It took me TWO HOURS to do this. No, they weren't busy. No lines. I just couldn't focus long enough to get this stuff. That call seriously messed with my head. All the stuff I bought is still sitting on the counter because I don't want to put it away and forget about it in case I need it Thursday or afterwards. It's only a matter of time though before Brandon gets tired of seeing it and he puts it wherever he thinks it should go. Ugh.
Tuesday: I woke up 20 minutes late. I didn't have time to make Tristan lunch for school. I rushed us out the door and bought him Steak & Shake mini corn dogs for lunch instead. We got to school...late. Little man didn't even kiss me goodbye, he just went about his business. I drove to Kissimmee to Jessica's so she could watch Liam so I could go have a 2D Echo & Ultrasound of the liver done. That only took about 3 hours! Most of which was spent at "Registration" and waiting. As soon as I got out I hauled butt to get to T's school to pick him up and rush back to Kissimmee to pick up Liam. I got to my cousins & I was beat. I really just wanted to nap so I sat on the couch put up the recliner and cuddled with the kids. I watched the pilot episode of This Is Us. Good show. I can't wait for it to go on Netflix. After that episode we drove back home. I made stir fried rice from leftovers for dinner. I barely ate dinner. I'm not hungry. I feel like blah. I've been at my computer updating the blog since I can't sleep. I forced myself to eat a bowl of cereal at 11 pm since I can't eat after midnight until after my procedure tomorrow.
Wednesday: I have to drop Tristan off at school, then drop Liam off with my sister in law, then rush home. Karen is picking me up. She's my "responsible driver" that the hospital says I have to bring. They are going to use IV sedation & a local anesthesia to place the port. When we got to the hospital, we went to the pre-op prep area. I got naked, chest up and wore that paper gown. I showed Karen my scar, we joked around. I was happy to have her there. She really helped lighten the mood.
I got the IV placed and went through all the consents and crap they ask 50 times by 10 different nurses, aides, techs, whatevers. I met the anesthesiologist and the surgeon. Both very nice guys. We went over the plan for anesthesia. IV Propofol to sedate me and Procaine/Lidocaine as a local. After discussing the risks, pros & cons we decided the I would do only the local and skip the sedation. Sedation was now Plan B. I was OK with that, or so I thought. Just in case I signed the consent for sedation and all that jazz before hand. The nurse probably thought I was crazy or something. WHATEVER! 😅 I had to wait forever for the OB nurse to come down with the fetal monitor to check on the baby's heart rate before the procedure. In the meantime I got to see the port & touch it, get really acquainted with this bad boy. *This is a sample & not the one that actually went in.
When they wheeled me into the "procedure room" I panicked. Like full blown panic; cold, sweaty, shaking, breathing heavy, borderline crying like a baby. This was not what I was expecting, at all. I expected a small room with an ultrasound machine to guide the placement and maybe 4 people. What I got was a full blown O.R. Machines whirring, monitors beeping, too many techs and nurses and scalpels and tools. Entirely way too much for my already overwhelmed brain. One of the lead nurses went for the surgeon, Dr Contreras. He was a different surgeon from the one I met in pre-op. She said he was the best and he would help put me at ease. Indeed, doc was spanish, from my hometown so we made small talk, he explained the procedure and said its ok to do the sedation & had a nurse page the anesthesia tech since they already had consent. He assured me everything would be ok & once I was sedated I was out cold. I don't remember how much time had passed but when I woke up I cried to Karen on how I chickened out and went for the sedation. I felt like a little b****. 😁 But the way I see it is the stress from freaking out and causing my blood pressure to rise was more of a risk to the baby than the sedative. So again we're waiting for the OB nurse to come check on the baby. The surgeon came & said it went perfect. The anesthesiologist came to check on me. He told me that I'm not a cheap date. 😏 I never said I was. He said it took a lot more Propofol to keep me under than he expected for someone of my size. "Oh, great! So I have the tolerance of MJ", I thought to myself. They kept me longer than expected to make sure I was fully out from the sedative. Once I was able to stand up and get dressed by myself I was ready to run the hell out of there. Hospitals and medical offices give me the heebeegeebees. I wanted to get home to my babies. But then I was told I couldn't drive the rest of the day and within an hour of being released I felt like my neck was karate chopped my Bruce Lee. The more the meds more off the worse it felt. I felt like I went 3 rounds of Mortal Combat with Bruce Lee and he finished me off with a chop to the neck. TKO!
A doctor in the post-op wanted to send me home with the port accessed since I would be receiving chemo the next day. I said no, absolutely refused. I told him to tell the infusion center that I had two little ones at home and I was bound to get hurt. He agreed and said they don't normally leave it accessed as its a druggies dream. We both laughed, I can see why but I'm not a druggie and I damn sure didn't want more stuff hanging off of me. So he called the infusion place and said that we both refuse to leave it accessed and they would have to do it themselves. BTW, I felt great advocating for myself and what I thought was best for me.
She transferred me to the oncology nurse. She told me someone at the surgeon's office had dropped the ball on scheduling the port and the infusion nurse jumped the gun on scheduling chemo. She knew I wanted Thursday and Friday.
Monday afternoon I spent it in a daze. I cried for no reason, I was angry, stressed and frustrated. Shit just got real! Monday evening after Brandon got home I went to Publix to buy the stuff on my "Chemo Shopping List" and to Walgreen's to pick up my prescriptions. It took me TWO HOURS to do this. No, they weren't busy. No lines. I just couldn't focus long enough to get this stuff. That call seriously messed with my head. All the stuff I bought is still sitting on the counter because I don't want to put it away and forget about it in case I need it Thursday or afterwards. It's only a matter of time though before Brandon gets tired of seeing it and he puts it wherever he thinks it should go. Ugh.
Tuesday: I woke up 20 minutes late. I didn't have time to make Tristan lunch for school. I rushed us out the door and bought him Steak & Shake mini corn dogs for lunch instead. We got to school...late. Little man didn't even kiss me goodbye, he just went about his business. I drove to Kissimmee to Jessica's so she could watch Liam so I could go have a 2D Echo & Ultrasound of the liver done. That only took about 3 hours! Most of which was spent at "Registration" and waiting. As soon as I got out I hauled butt to get to T's school to pick him up and rush back to Kissimmee to pick up Liam. I got to my cousins & I was beat. I really just wanted to nap so I sat on the couch put up the recliner and cuddled with the kids. I watched the pilot episode of This Is Us. Good show. I can't wait for it to go on Netflix. After that episode we drove back home. I made stir fried rice from leftovers for dinner. I barely ate dinner. I'm not hungry. I feel like blah. I've been at my computer updating the blog since I can't sleep. I forced myself to eat a bowl of cereal at 11 pm since I can't eat after midnight until after my procedure tomorrow.
Wednesday: I have to drop Tristan off at school, then drop Liam off with my sister in law, then rush home. Karen is picking me up. She's my "responsible driver" that the hospital says I have to bring. They are going to use IV sedation & a local anesthesia to place the port. When we got to the hospital, we went to the pre-op prep area. I got naked, chest up and wore that paper gown. I showed Karen my scar, we joked around. I was happy to have her there. She really helped lighten the mood.
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| Thanks Karen 💖 |
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| BARD PowerPortⓇ |
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| Post Op |
A doctor in the post-op wanted to send me home with the port accessed since I would be receiving chemo the next day. I said no, absolutely refused. I told him to tell the infusion center that I had two little ones at home and I was bound to get hurt. He agreed and said they don't normally leave it accessed as its a druggies dream. We both laughed, I can see why but I'm not a druggie and I damn sure didn't want more stuff hanging off of me. So he called the infusion place and said that we both refuse to leave it accessed and they would have to do it themselves. BTW, I felt great advocating for myself and what I thought was best for me.
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| At home after a wash cloth cleansing |
Thursday: Chemo Cycle 1 Day 1
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