Third times a charm???

I just got home from my pre-op appointment. Yep, that means the winner is - the Central Line or Hohn Catheter. Yay. I really mean YAY! cause at least I will be given anesthesia. I don't know what the difference is between the PICC and the Hohn - but for some reason the PICC can be installed with only a numbing agent and by a nurse. But the Hohn requires surgery. Since I have chemo on Wednesday, they had to scramble to get it scheduled, but it's set. I go in on Monday at 11am and this should allow me to stay on track with my treatments. Another YAY!

Soooooo, I'm a little nervous. This is the third time I'm having a line installed. I'm starting to feel like Swiss Cheese. Each of the previous times it had to be done twice! For some reason, my anatomy didn't lead the line to the right place on the first insertions. Soooooo, my praying friends - I wouldn't mind if you put in a good word or two that this goes right the first time!

Onto brighter news... I just read my cousin Taylor's most recent blog entry and it looks like they are having a party. It's called 2008 Miracle Party and it's honoring several kids battling with cancer, including Taylor. Please visit her site http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/taylormorgan or the 2008 Miracle Party site for more information if you might be interested in attending.

Ouch that hurt.... AGAIN!

I was sooooooo nervous and scared about today. It's been on my mind all week and I don't know what I was so stressed about. I guess the thought of going in for a new line almost made it feel like I was starting all over again. I know I'm not, but my mind must be playing tricks on me. Either way, today didn't go as well as it could have, but I came out okay after all was said and done.

I went in for the procedure to install a PICC line in my arm to replace my central line that was in my chest. (These are the ports where I receive my chemotherapy - but my central line came out last week). Today's procedure was not considered a surgery and a nurse was able to perform the install. It reminded me a lot of the surgery I had for the first one and in case you don't remember how well that went (not) - then here's a link to that blog entry -Minor complications... Ouch! That hurts!

Here's what happened...

I went in at 1pm and didn't have to do anything really to prep for it except have breakfast and lunch and be hydrated. Easy enough. They used a sterile procedure so I was all covered with those blue drapes - three of them. My left arm was extended out so that the nurse could poke at me like they do when they give you an IV. Then she administered some numbing agent - which felt like itty bitty bee stings over and over. After that she pushed the PICC line tube through my arm and I could feel it go up towards my shoulder - not so much painful as a weird feeling. And then the line went towards my neck and kept getting "stuck" on something (that kinda hurt). She had to call another nurse in. They pulled it out and pushed it back in, and pulled it out and pushed it back in. This took at least an hour until one of the nurses thought they got it where they wanted it to be. The first nurse wasn't as sure of it.

I went for an X-Ray which confirmed - it didn't go right. The line went towards my other shoulder instead of down to my heart. Sound familiar? A repeat of my first surgery. So I had to go back and have them wiggle the wire in and out again. This time it really hurt. The numbing agent was wearing off and my arm was bruised and hurting where the line went in - right at the crease of it. My platelets are low, so the nurse said that affected the bleeding (increasing it a bit) - and so she applied a LOT of pressure too. I felt like crying and I swear I had tears in my eyes, but I didn't cry. I just said "ouch and owwwwwwwch" a lot.

I have a dressing that completely covers about 10 inches of my arm. Tomorrow I will go in for my 9th chemo and they should change it. We'll see if it's as.... as big then.

I'm so tired, I could have slept at the dinner table - so I think I'm going to bed now. Just thought I'd give a quick update.


My numbers -

		Range
	Actual	Low	High
WBC	3.0	3.5	11.0
HGB	12.3	12.0	16.0
HCT	38.8	34.0	47.0
Platelets	140	150.0	450.0
Neutrophils	0.7	1.5	7.5

Ooops. I think I broke it...

Okay, I didn't break it, but it doesn't work anymore. It's not even there anymore. Maybe you're wondering what the heck I'm talking about 'cause my last post probably didn't make any sense. I'm talking about my central line or "port". For those of you who haven't been graced with the view of two tubes sticking out of my chest - that is what my central line is... umm, was. It's where they hooked the chemo up when I go in for treatments. I guess there's a few reasons for this. One is because the medication would jack up my veins if it was administered directly. So maybe the doctor didn't use the term "jack up" but that's what I heard. Another reason is because I need to wear a pump (aka banana phone) for two days after treatment and that's what they hook that puppy up to.

Last week I had my stitches taken out and the port was being held in place by a stat lock (sticky thing). Unfortunately, yesterday when I went to change the stat lock and was cleaning the area, the tube slipped out - alot... This morning I called and they said I would have to go in to get it checked. Then I went to clean it again and it slipped even more. The nurse told me that it only had about another inch and the whole thing would have came out! That would have FREAKED-ME-OUT! Thank God that didn't happen.

So they took the whole central line out. No more tubes in my chest. Just a big ol' bandage that I have to wear for 24 hours. I had a choice to make after that. I could either go in and get another central line in the same place which would require surgery again. Or, since I have only 4 more treatments (that's right, I said four!) - that's considered "short term treatment" now and I can get a PICC Line. It's the same thing, just in my arm. I wasn't really psyched about either option. If you recall, my first surgery for the central line kinda went whacky and had to be done a 2nd time. And getting something in my arm just sounds weird. But it's all weird I guess. The nurse recommended the PICC, plus it will cost less than another surgery - so I'm going with that. And here's a plus - I'm without any line until next Tuesday when I get the install. Yay! I can't tell you how cool it will be to be without that plastic installation - even for a week!

So that's what's up with me. What's up with you? :o)

Where's my banana phone?

Last Thursday, I told my mom that she could drop me off for the central line surgery and then go back home to take Darren to school. Then I told her I wouldn't be out until about 11 if she wanted to wait to come back till then. The thing is, I wasn't out-out the whole time and I didn't realize how much I would notice that I was alone. Thank God Mondo walked in (unexpectedly) when he did. It was right before they told me about the minor complications. I think I might have had a breakdown if he weren't there. Instead, I laughed. And he took a picture of me bundled in warm blankets.

So honestly, I'm a bit freaked out. I went in on Friday for the class on my central line, and I am not sure what I was expecting... I guess I thought that they were gonna show me how to clean the lines with Heparin (which I am okay with) and maybe show me how to connect and disconnect the banana phone (aka, the pump, which I still haven't seen)... but I found out I have to change the dressing on my own once a week, for the entire time. The nurse was stressing how it had to be sterile cause the line went straight down to my heart and an infection could.... what?!?!?! The first time I have to change it is Friday and I asked Sheila, who is a nurse and who has been going with me to appointments, if she might help me and make sure I don't kill myself.

My first round of chemotherapy is this Wednesday. Two days. I wonder if I will use it as a measure of time? Like, before chemo and after chemo. I do that sometimes... Oh man, we're really going now aren't we?

A few pics...

I mentioned a piece of surgery garb - an aluminum looking puffy hat, that looks like one of those popcorn tins that open up real big when you heat it over the stove - in the post titled The Big Day - Part I. This is a picture Jazzy modeling it off. Sexy! I also brought home the matching blanket.

After my surgery, when I was in recovery, they brought me a bunch of warm sheets because I was freezing. They wrapped one around my head and I fell asleep zoning in and out while I was waiting for results. All the nurses could see were my eyes. This is what I looked like when Mondo walked in. *cheeeese* brrrrrr.....

This is the nurse that taught me how to take care of my central line. She was my first intake nurse in oncology, but I don't remember her name. Paula maybe? I'm sure I will know all their names before long though...


Darren had Field Day for West Denver Prep on Friday. Me and my mom got to go for a bit and watched him participate in a couple events, including one that he got a first place ribbon for - a crazy relay race. It looked like the students had lots of fun.

Minor complications... Ouch! That hurts!

I just got home from the Franklin Medical Center where my outpatient surgery was performed. I am feeling really tired and the area of the incision and my arms hurt a bit, but other than that - doing well.

So, you know how before you go into surgery the doctor comes in and discusses the possible complications... like you have a 1% chance of the such and such puncturing your lung. Or you have a 1% chance of the blah blah blah...

"In this procedure we will create an incision just below your left collar bone. We will push a wire down the vein towards your heart. That's where we want it to be. Then we will push a catheter piece over the wire and pull the wire out. There is, however, a small chance that the wire will go toward your other arm or your neck - in which case we will need to redo the procedure."

Guess what... My wire started out where it was supposed to be. The doctor said it "tickled my heart". He knew this from an EKG? readout. Anyway, I guess at some point, it flipped around and started up towards my neck. This wasn't discovered until after an X-Ray was taken, after I had a few animal crackers and a drink of gingerale. So that meant, not only did the procedure need to be corrected, it had to be done without anesthesia. Yay!

Haha. It wasn't really that bad. They numbed the area a bit and since the incision had already been made, I just had to deal with the discomfort and pressure of the wire being taken out and reinserted. I'm not gonna lie, it hurt. But I was able to get through it just fine. The whole surgery team was sooooo nice and joked with me, which was just what I needed.

So, here I am at home, ready to pass out - but of course, not before I blog. I'm off for a nap.... sweet dreams.

Noticing the "good stuff" -
[x] Jello pudding pops
[x] My funny anesthesiologist, Dr Natalie Conrad
[x] Imperial Dragon Chinese Restaurant