Round 4 & Thanksgiving

Wednesday, November 8, 2006 (Doug's 54th birthday) I go to the Dr Bachrach's office for my routine blood draw before chemotherapy. The nurse calls me back to do the blood draw. First, she gives me a saline solution to flush the port, but it feels funny. I told her, "This doesn't feel right!" She tries it again. I said, "There's something wrong, it doesn't feel right." The nurse goes and gets another nurse. A third time she tries to flush the port. Again I said, "This doesn't feel right!" She looks at my skin and there's a huge lump because the saline solution is going under my skin and not into the port. So, they had to draw out of my arm instead.

After what had happened with the port, the doctors office sent me to the hospital to have a test to see what was wrong with the port. I went to the radiology department. They had to give me an IV and put a dye into my veins. I went into this room where a machine was taking images of the port. After the test I was told that the port was, "broken" and that the "wires are all twisted up" and "do not use it".

Ok, the port is broken, what can I do about it? Absolutely nothing. How the hospital acted gave me the impression that it wasn't important. So, I called Dr Johnson and told his office about the "broken" port. Since I was on chemo, the window of opportunity to remove and implant a new port is very narrow. The procedure to remove the port and implant a new one was scheduled for Wednesday, November 22, 2006, the day before Thanksgiving.

November 9, 2006 I had round 4 of my chemo regime. Unfortunately, I had to use a vein because my chemo port was broken. I didn't like seeing the IV in my hand. This is the reason I wanted a port, I didn't want to have to do it this way. Yet, I had no options. I had to suck it up and just do it. Actually, my chemotherapy hasn't been too bad. I have had very little nausea and no vomiting. That's a good thing. Up to this point I've only had two instances that I did feel nauseous but I meditated my way through it. The first occasion, was when Doug was warming up his dinner. The smell hit me like a brick wall. I ran to the bedroom and shut the door. I laid on the bed and just meditated. The other time I was laying on the couch. I was home alone and all of a sudden I felt "ick". Once again, I laid there and closed my eyes. That's all I had to do. This truly was a blessing, no vomiting! On my way home, from chemo, I usually went to Ned's Crazy Sub for a sub sandwich. Ned's became my sub of choice and helped me to survive through my treatments! Thanks Ned's!

Here it is the day before Thanksgiving. I begin preparation for Thanksgiving dinner. I wash the turkey, salt and pepper it, and place it in a baking bag then put it in the refrigerator. It should be okay, especially since I didn't stuff it. I peeled potatoes and put them in salt water in pan, one less thing to do Thanksgiving morning. When I come home later today, I'll be on schedule in my preparation for Thanksgiving. It will be very intimate, just me, Doug and my Dad for Thanksgiving.

Wednesday, November 22, 2006, Doug and I arrive at the hospital at 1:30 in the afternoon for an outpatient procedure. This is supposed to be a simple procedure, remove the broken port and implant a new one. After the surgery, I see Doug's face, sick with worry, and the Dr Hamberg, the anesthesiologist stroking my arm with just as much of a worried look as Doug. Now, keep in mind, I just came out of surgery. I'm still drugged up, not really absorbing everything. Dr Johnson comes and tells me that during the procedure he cannot locate part of the Bard chemo port and that I need a CT Scan to see where it might be located. I'm telling Doug to calm down, because he's upset with worry, again I don't realize the severity of the situation.

I'm taken to do the CT Scan. I remember them telling me, "Breathe in, hold your breath, breathe", several times. The results of the test shows that the part is in my heart. This is a rare incident. It has been known to happen but very rarely. Well, I was the lucky one! Typically when the port breaks it goes one of two places; in your lungs or in your heart. The part went into my heart. I'm immediately admitted to the hospital and taken to a room. Still under the effects of anesthesia, I call LaDonna, my sister. Now keep in mind, LaDonna is out of town, in Tucson, for the Thanksgiving holiday. I tell her what's going on, like it's nothing! My advise to anyone, don't make phone calls when you come out of surgery.

Thanksgiving morning I'm in the hospital. I'm served a nice breakfast and told to stay in bed and not move around. I see a commode by the bed and I tell the nurse that I'm not going to use it when the bathroom is literally 10 steps from the commode. The nurse said that was the doctor's orders to use the commode because he didn't want me to exert too much energy or to get stressed due to the wires being in my heart. Don't they realize that using the commode would cause me more stress than using the toilet.

Dr Johnson came in to see me before the retrieval. I could see the concern on his face. He asked me, "When you had the test on your chemo port, didn't they tell you it was in your heart?" "No, they just told me it was broken and not to use it", was my reply. He shook his head and left. I can still see the look on his face! He wasn't very happy.

A young man took me to radiology for the procedure to have the part removed, and I was asked a few questions. One of the questions was, "When was the last time you ate?" Of course, I ate breakfast and evidently that became a problem because I wanted to be sedated. You know, I want to "see nothing", "hear nothing", and "feel nothing". Well, since I ate that wasn't possible so I began to cry and pray. Boy, did I pray!!! Now I'm frustrated. They knew I was having this procedure...why did they bring me breakfast? That's what I want to know! A little time later, they came back and told me they needed a special device to do the procedure and they had to go to another hospital to get it. Thank goodness, my prayers were answered. I was taken back to my room. I kept praying they would take a long time getting what they needed. Several hours later the young man came and took me back to radiology. They asked the doctor if I could have the sedation that I requested earlier and he said, "She can have whatever she wants!" The procedure to retrieve the part was to go through my femoral vein and pluck the wire from my heart and pull it out. All I remember is them showing me some blue wires in my hazy view.

After the procedure I was taken back to my room. The instructions were, that I had to remain still for the next 4 hours. That was a long 4 hours. I remember watching the clock and about 3 hours into my 4 hours of laying there, all I could think was, "I have to pee!" But there was no way I was going to use a bed pan. So, I just laid there and watched the clock. It was one of the longest hours of my life. About 5 minutes before my time was up, I called the nurse because I knew it might take that long for her to come. When she came in I told her, "My time is up and that I have to pee"." I also told her that she had to help me get up, because after laying there as still as can be, I was as stiff as a board and I could hardly move.

I was discharged about 5:00 pm, November 23rd, Thanksgiving Day. Thank heavens for the Washburn Family. Doug and I walked to the Washburn's house and we invited ourselves for dinner. They were so kind and gracious. I appreciate their friendship very much. They made Thanksgiving complete! This is a Thanksgiving I will never forget!

Friday, November 24th I cooked our Thanksgiving dinner.