Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwch! That hurts!

I guess going to the Medical Center every other week isn't enough for me, so I took a trip there today...

My upper arm has been bothering me since I had my PICC line installed just over a week ago. It's been a dull but constant pain increasing each day and although I could deal with it if I had to, it still hurt. It wasn't so fun to sleep with it either.

I didn't want to call in cause I was afraid of what they would say... like maybe "come in, we might have to take it out." But I thought, it probably shouldn't be feeling worse than when they put it in, so I called. They said "Come in, let us check it out. It's probably just an irritation in your vein, but we want to make sure there aren't any blood clots."

I went right in, got there about 12:45. Dr Azar said she could see some redness and that it shouldn't be hurting. She (and nurse Julie) ordered an ultrasound. Julie really worked some magic cause they said they didn't have an appointment until 3:30pm and when I went down to Radiology, they said they didn't have anything open until the 9th! But it all got straightened out and I was seen by 2pm.

It was coming up to 4 o'clock and I had to head out for a Parent Council Meeting at Darren's school, so I asked if they could change my dressing and I could check back for results. We optimistically hoped that no news was good news. Julie tracked down Dr Azar just before I was getting ready to leave and just AFTER Lisa had changed my dressing.

Results....
Apparently I was starting to get blood clots (not a good thing) and they had to pull the line. Argh... I just smiled and said "okay". Ya have to do what you have to do right? Dr Azar said I might need to get another Central Line (in my chest). I just am not sure how I feel about it. It seemed a bit easier than the PICC as I had an extra hand to use... but it's surgery.... and a $100 co-pay vs the $20 co-pay for the PICC line! But a PICC line in my right arm? That doesn't sound so fun either. Awe, whatever. For now, I have to take aspirin once a day until I hear back from Oncology. They will let me know what I am scheduled for.

Good news! No co-pay today! Yay!

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

My whole weekend didn't suck...

I feel like poo.

That's why I haven't been blogging like crazy, like I had been. It wasn't to give you all a break if that's what you were thinking :o)

Anyway, my whole weekend didn't suck...
Friday, I woke up at 4:30pm, just in time to get ready to go meet some friends for dinner. Remember way back at the beginning of this roller coaster ride - when I checked myself into the ER? Well, that night I was supposed to have dinner with some friends at the Hibachi Grill to celebrate my birthday. Getting admitted to the hospital put a kink in those plans. Anyway, nothing like making up for lost time. They took me out to a belated birthday dinner at the Hibachi Grill on Friday night and it was pretty fun.

Saturday, my mom and I attended a "Full Tea" at the Molly Brown House. Some very sweet ladies from our church (I still don't know who - but thank you very much), bought us tickets for this event to celebrate women in our lives. It was a new experience to many of us, but a cool way to spend a beautiful afternoon. That evening, we went to a Mammoth (vs Calgary) playoff game. Unfortunately, the Mammoth lost and the season is now over :o( But I have to say, I didn't know if I would make it through the game. I almost went out to the van to lie down. I was wiped out.

Today is Sunday. I've been in bed most of the day. Didn't sleep well at all - had bad tummy aches. Mom seems worried that I'm not hungry, but I did manage to eat a bowl of fried rice. I'm not sure why, but the only thing that sounds good to me is watermelon (which I also had a plate of). Tomorrow I think I will take a field trip to Whole Foods to find some crisp, juicy, sweet but a little tart apples. Hahaha! I can be one picky sick chick huh? Awe well, at least they let you sample at Whole Foods. Maybe a grapefruit too, if they look sweet...

I'm mad at myself for being such a whiner. Although, I'm not really whining, just staying in bed so it feels like I'm whining through my actions.

Tomorrow, I will get up.

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?

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

Allright already - Part III

Well, I guess this is gonna take longer than I originally had thought. Better call mom. I get ahold of them in time to tell Darren goodbye and to have a great time on his Winter Camp trip. Mondo is taking his Junior High Youth Group up to the Young Life Retreat, which he says is just an awesome place. Mom and dad say they will pick up some stuff for me at the house and then come bye. I want them to come and take my car home too since I don't want to pay for parking for three days :o)

By this time I have also called Mario and Karen and a few others. Not gonna make it to dinner Sue. (Later, after I am released from the hospital, I find out that I didn't tell nearly enough. oops). Yeah, actually while I was waiting in my ER exam room I took a camera pic of myself and sent it to Mondo & Lisa with the caption "Guess where I'm at". Sometimes I think I'm so funny.

I had even text Sammi the picture and telling her, "1 of my dr's is Hot! Nice eyes!" She called me back right away and was ready to come over right then (I think it was after 10pm) but I told her I would be out soon and I was okay. I was just texting 'cause I thought she would appreciate the "hot doctor" comment. My small group talks about setting me up quite often and I said "Man, we would be perfect or each other, I mean, if I can talk to him about my large intestine, specifically about my colon, I can talk to him about anything (dreamily)." Hahaha! I am funny.

The hospital stay lasted from Friday through Sunday. Mario & Karen visited a few times, and brought the kids too. That was awesome. And John & Lisa & the boys came with a gift which was a framed photograph from my baptism. I placed it on my table and it brought lots of people to look at it - and I don't mean just glance, they squinted their eyes and stared like they were trying to figure out one of those pictures that you have to go cross-eyed for it to come into focus. It's a photo from my baptism. Yes, that's a hot tub.

The only bad thing was that I had some problems with my IV's. One of them got infiltrated? I think that's what the nurse said happened. They stopped it and changed it right away. And then one of the others burnt alot, ALOT - when a certain kind of medication was being administered. That was about the worst of it. Mario asked what it felt like. It feels like I have a gash in my hand and someone is pulling it open and it feel like my skin is being separated from my flesh underneath. Hahaha! You should have seen the look on his face. He said "I thought you were going to say it burns or something like that, but geez Tom!". Thank goodness for Nurse Roxi. When she came onto shift, she told me that I wasn't out of my mind and slowed the drip down so that it was bearable.

When I went in that morning, it was supposed to get to 70 degrees. I had on capris and sandals. When I left on Sunday evening, it had snowed all morning (a wicked snowstorm) and I wore my slippers into Walgreens where we stopped to pick up some over the counter stuff. I love Colorado.

Next step. Dr Vaughn's office will call you to schedule an appointment.

Allright already - Part I

Okay, so about this time I am upset. I am in pain. And I am going to go get something started, even if Kaiser can't decide what to do with me.

I figure I will go in on my way to work for the fasting lab that my PCP ordered on 2/15. But when I get there, the lab tech tells me that she can't find the order. And her tone tells me that she's not going to look for it any further. I am frustrated to no end and let the tech know that I did not make it up. I'm already going to miss two hours of work just for stopping by to complete this. I've already used almost all my sick time for the year and I am not leaving until I complete the lab. The order was placed by Dr. Budee on February 15th. I think something in my tone told her how upset I was. She checks her records again and then offers that sometimes the orders are not sent through by the doctors and refers me back to the Family Practice Desk (across the hall) to have them resend it.

So I go over there and ask the desk attendant to check my records. She responds that she found the order, but that she will need to have a nurse send it over. I was so angry and frustrated by this time, I was seriously considering demanding to speak to the person in charge, manager on duty, owner - whoever, but someone ranking 'cause I had issues with this - and I had a severe stomach ache to boot! When the desk attendant came back, she told me that Dr Budee's nurse wanted to speak to me if I could wait a minute before I went back to the lab....

I can't remember the nurses name, but she brought me back to one of the exam rooms. I'm sure I had tears in my eyes. I couldn't believe how hard it was for me to get this done. I'm not an easy person to get to the doctor in the first place, and here I am - practically knocking down doors because I know something is wrong - and I can't get anyone to respond. Anyway, she asks me what is going on and I just let go. Tell her everything as fast as I can and leave off with - "and after all that, I was told someone from Family Practice would call me back, and they never did.". She told me that she was actually the nurse that was going to call me back, but she only got the note that morning at 8:30am. She was extremely apologetic and told me to go over and complete my labs and that she would fit me into Dr Budee's schedule somehow.

Dr Budee saw me, I don't know, maybe by about 10am. I had been in the office since 8am. She didn't know what it could be. Intestinal? An ovarian cyst? A UTI? She told me she wanted to order a CT Scan and I waited. When she came back into the exam room, she said "I can order a CT scan for you here, but it will cost $200. Or, you can go to Saint Joseph's ER and it might cost $100.". She said she would call the hospital and let them know about my history and her recommendation.

Before I left, she wrote me a couple of prescriptions. One was for pain medication. The other was for an antibiotic for a UTI. She told me that my blood test didn't "scream UTI" (she even used the air-quotes when she said it) and that if the ER found something in my CT scan, to go with their advise. But if they didn't find anything, to fill the scripts.

What?!

History

September 2007: Stomach ache and other symptoms. Told not to worry about it at my age.

Week of January 20th, 2008: Abdominal pains. Feel like contractions. Doctor's appointment set for 1/25.

January 23rd, 2008: Abdominal pains cease after three days. Cancel appointment scheduled for 1/25 and reschedule with my own Primary Care Physician (PCP) for 2/15.

February 15th, 2008: Keep appointment. Still haven't had recurrence of pain in abdomen. Discuss history with PCP. She writes me a referral to GI at the Franklin Clinic and for a Fasting Blood Work. Not urgent to complete as the pain is gone.

February 26th, 2008: Start to feel abdominal pain in the evening.

February 27th, 2008: Abdominal pain severity increases. Still feels like contractions - lasting for a few minutes, causing me to double over in pain. Cannot walk or stand through pain. Occur every hour or so. Call Kaiser after-hours for referral. After waiting for several minutes to speak to a nurse, get disconnected. Frustrated, do not call back.

February 28th, 2008: Call Kaiser during business hours. Speak to OB nurse for over an hour when finally told I would be referred back to my PCP in Family Practice. Told I would receive a call back. Never did, that afternoon or evening at least.