It was a week with a few highlights. Here are the details.
On Monday Sept. 2, though it was a holiday, I still needed to head to the hospital to change my IV bag. It was an uneventful appointment but it did last a long time. Before heading to the hospital though, I was able to get a chili started in the crock pot and had it simmering while we were away. We came home to a lovely smell, one that had not been in the house for quite some time. It was even better to eat it. So much better than hospital food.
Tuesday, Sept 3, started off with me finally getting an email from the hospital stating I have results online. Normally, as an out-patient, I get results from blood tests the day after my appointment however I was not getting anything while I was an in-patient. I inquired about this with the people who manage the system and I was told that I would not get my results until 10 days after I am discharged from the hospital. I had gotten used to the Toronto system where I get results the second they are imputed into the system, usually within 1h of giving blood, regardless if I was an in-patient or an out-patient. I had received some of my blood results on Monday, which were looking positive, but I did not get my neutrophils counts which I have been closely monitoring for some time now. When I looked at these results online it showed that my counts were 0.95! A huge increase over the last week. As usual, I spent the morning reading my paper and drinking my coffee. Around lunch time, I decided to take out my camera and take pictures of our front garden. It seems that we have a bunch of butterflies that come visit our mint flowers so I decided to see if I could take some pictures of them. I spent about 1h taking images of the butterflies and other weird insects that were visiting along with photos of the flowers. I also was testing some of my macro lenses to see how they work and how I could use them to get some good close up shots. I had taken some great pictures, or so I thought, until I looked at them on my computer. Looking at them, I realized that my ISO value was set to max so the images looked very noisy. Also, the camera was not focusing on the areas that I was interested in so I have several beautiful photos of butterflies where the mint leaves are in focus but not the butterflies. In the end, I did have a few images that were good out of the hundred that I took. Good thing it is a digital camera as I would have wasted many rolls of film. Shortly after lunch, Pat,
Genevieve’s friend was over. He was in the neighbourhood because he was going to a meeting for his godchild’s baptism which will be happening in Orleans. He came by early as he wanted to challenge me to a chess game using his new wooden set that Genevieve got him for his birthday in early Aug. Unfortunately, he beat me but it was a very close game. Afterwards, MA was done her massages for the day and we headed to the hospital, this time without Shelly. We needed to ensure that we could bring her to this new ward and we did not know what the policy was yet. During our visit, my pump complained about air in the line and our nurse was able to fix it. Something we did not know at the time was that I should have paid more attention to what she was doing as this was going to be an issue in the coming week. We had a visit from the ward manager to talk about Shelly. At first she was very reluctant about having her but once we told her that she was my therapy dog and that she helps me lower my blood pressure, she agreed that we could bring her in the future. We filled out the necessary paperwork and provided it back to her. While this was happening, we had a visit from the resident to look at my wound and chat with us about the plan for the IV pump for the week. Before heading home after the appointment was done, I was able to get my blood counts and though my platelets and red blood cells stayed stable, my neutrophils skyrocketed to 1.7! This was great news as it looks like I am starting to get better. Once home, MA rushed Cassy to her soccer game while I stayed home to rest for the evening.
It’s Wednesday, Sept 4, at 6:30AM and the fucken pump has woken us up! There is air in the line and the alarm is going off. When I got this pump, they did not train me on what to do if alarms go off. All they said was that there are plenty of videos on YouTube that you can look at. Now that we are both pissed and stressed out about the pump, MA got up to get the number we needed to call when issues like this come up. She called the after-hours number and we were directed to the doctor on call. Unfortunately, the doctor did not know what to do as he typically does not deal with this pump. His suggestion was to skip this morning dose and get it fixed at my appointment in the afternoon where the nurses could address it. Well this was not going to work as the pump alarm goes off every 5 min after you silence it and I was not going to deal with this for the next 8h. MA made coffee while I tried to unfog my brain to see if I could fix the pump. I found some operator and service manuals and, in one of them, I found instructions to fix my problem. I could not fix it myself though. With MA’s help, she disconnected the IV line from my arm and we followed the instructions to reprime the pump. Luckily, the other day while the nurse was setting up the pump, I had sneaked a peek at the unlock code as it was needed to complete the steps. With the IV line hanging over our kitchen sink, the pump slowly primed the line and got rid of all the air as the fluid dripped into the sink. Once we could see that the line was free of air, we stopped the priming and reconnected the line to my arm. All of this caused a delay in my morning dose by 1h which meant that my afternoon dose would also be delayed causing my appointment at the hospital to be that much longer. I was tired and cranky for the rest of the day and the coffee did not help much. Again, I spent a bit more time with my camera at lunch time taking pictures of the butterflies. This time, the wind was much stronger so it made it a bit more challenging. I took some better images this time but am still struggling with getting the focus right. I think I have since figured it out so I will try something different next time. We were asked to show up at the hospital for 3:00 today so I was very surprised that, on our way, we got a call from the nurses asking where we were. Once at the hospital, we headed to the ward to attend to our daily IV bag change and blood work. At least we had Shelly with us to calm me down. As this was going to be a long appointment, MA took Shelly out for a visit onto the old ward to see the nurses and Erin while I waited for the nurses to complete the bag change and get the results of the blood work. Dr. B-B came by to visit and chat about my infection and see if we could map out a plan for my doctor in Toronto as he still wants me to visit and do blood work. My nurse in Toronto was able to email me a blood rec which allowed me to do it in Ottawa but Dr Kuruvilla still wants to see me before my next appointment in Oct. Dr. B-B was going to talk with Dr. Kuruvilla to see if I could have the blood work drawn at the hospital and they would send the results instead of going to a LifeLab as was suggested. Before leaving, I was able to see some of my blood values and again my red blood and platelets were stable but they did not have my neutrophil count yet. Then we went back to visit with the nurses and Erin before heading home. As we were running late, we decided to pick up some pizza for the family on the way. The rest of the night was spent relaxing and watching TV.
Once again, I was awakened by the pump at 6:00AM! This time, we knew what to do so we got it corrected quickly and headed back to bed. Once I got up for good, I headed downstairs for the morning ritual of coffee, paper and email. Once again, I was greeted with an email that I had results online from the hospital. I proceeded to check them out and there was my blood work results from the day prior. This time though, it included my neutrophil counts and it was reading 2.99! This was amazing news as a low normal value is only 2.0. I am starting to have an immune system again! With this news, we were excited to head to the hospital for our daily visit. Once again, we had Shelly in tow as we greeted the nurses on the ward. With the issues I was having with the pump and the fact that my next dose was not going to start for another 1h, the nurse was able to change my pump schedule so that the dose started right away. This would cut our time at the hospital by 1h. While we waited for my blood results, the resident doctor came by to visit. While he was there, we decided to take off the bandage that was on my leg so that we could better inspect the wound and clean it up. It turns out that some of the discoloration that we were seeing was easily cleaned making the wound seem much smaller. After letting it air out for a while, a new dressing was placed on my leg and, shortly thereafter, we were released with my blood results. Once again, I am holding steady with my red blood and platelets but no neutrophil counts were provided (nor tested this time). We were on our way to meet up with the kids who were at the optometrist for their annual checkup. I dropped off MA and Shelly with them while I headed to the grocery store to pick up some items for dinner. The gang showed up later and we all ate together. I struggled for the rest of the night to decide if I should try to make it to see the boys at hockey. Though I was not going to play, my immune system was in a position where I could at least visit with them. I finally decided to go and met up with the team halfway through the game. I chatted with the boys on the bench in between their shifts. After the game, we headed to the bar for a ginger ale and wings. It had been way too long since I had my wings. As it was the last night of the season, we were also settling our bar tab so we had a lot more food coming. The bar gives us back about 10% from our orders and we use it for a small party at the end of the season. It was great to see everyone one last time before the new season starts next week.
Friday, Sept 6, was filled with a lot of activity. I was up late in the morning so my routine was delayed. Since we were planning on being in Toronto, MA did not have any massages so we decided to go out for lunch. Also, I had a gift card from Rick for a local knife store that I had not used yet so we went by there as they were having a sale on a knife sharpening set and course. We got ready, packed the dog and headed to Bank street to visit the knife store. We were able to purchase the kit and sign me up for a course and then walked to a local Mexican restaurant that had a patio. We ordered while Shelly laid underneath our table. The tacos were really good and refreshing. After lunch, we headed to the hospital a bit early for our appointment. As we got into our room, we were greeted with so many things. The fire alarm went off so we knew that the fire trucks would be on their way. When they arrived, a helicopter was landing in the pad next to my window in the hospital. At the same time, the nurse and resident doctor showed up to draw blood and chat with us. Shortly thereafter, we were all watching the helicopter land and the fire trucks arrive when the wound specialist showed up. I was not sure I could take all this action all at once! With everyone in the room, we all proceeded to look my leg. The wound specialist took photos of it and poked and measured it. She made her recommendations for follow up care and was then on her way. The resident then told us that we would no longer need to be connected to the pump as my immune system and the wound were in good shape and I could instead be given oral antibiotics. The nurse stopped my pump and eventually removed it. While we were waiting for the pump to be removed, it started to rain and since we were on the upper floor of the parking garage and my windows were cracked a bit to let the heat out, MA decided to take Shelly for a walk and close the windows. Just before they got back, the nurse removed the pump and the IV but while she was taking off the adhesive for the IV, it grabbed my IV line and I bled a lot on me and onto the bed. We got it covered quickly to stop the bleeding and then I was taped up and headed home. Once again, we headed to the old ward to visit with nurses and Erin. It was going to be the last time we could visit in a while as I did not have another appointment until Monday. As always, Shelly was getting a lot of love from the nurses and from Erin. Erin’s mom actually mentioned that Erin was getting a couple of therapy dogs in but none were as great as Shelly. They would come in and simply lay down on the floor however when Shelly comes in, she jumps onto her bed and kisses her and is generally very happy to see her. After our appointment, we headed to my work as I wanted to pick something up for Isabelle. Though there were not many people left on a Friday afternoon, we were able to visit with a few, including some I had not seen in a while. Afterwards, we headed home for dinner and another relaxing evening.
It was great to finally sleep without an IV line in my arm. I woke up on Saturday, Sept 7, a bit more relaxed but still tired. After a late breakfast, MA and I went grocery shopping. The plan for dinner tonight was for me to finally make Isabelle’s birthday dinner which was 4 months late. Picking up all these supplies really tired me out so once home, I rested. My plan for the afternoon was to slowly prepare for the dinner while I watched the football game. I thought I had recorded it but, even though the guide said I was on the right channel, TSN decided to show something else. By the time I started to watch the game, it was almost half time and the Redblacks were already losing. From the sounds of the announcers, it looks like I missed the best parts of the game as they sucked from the point I started to watch. I had completed all my prep for dinner and was just waiting for Genevieve to come back from Pat’s place to start cooking. He too would be joining us but would be arriving a bit later. I fired up the grill and made Isabelle my famous grilled salad and bbq’ed some cod. Everyone enjoyed the dinner (expect maybe me as I am not a huge fish fan). After dinner we let our food digest a bit before desert. I whipped up some cream before preparing the strawberry shortcakes that Isabelle requested. This had tired me out so it was an early night to bed.
Not much happened on Sunday, Sept 8. I sat around the house surfing the internet doing research and watched a couple of movies while MA cooked dinner.
The plan for the week is to play some baseball as it is our playoff time. Right now, our first game is on Monday and depending on how we do, we could be either playing on Thursday or Friday, with more games on the weekend. I visit with Dr. B-B on Monday at the hospital with Home Care coming a few times this week to change my bandage (not sure when yet as they have not called me). The bandage needs to be changed every 2 days so I am surprised I have not heard from them yet. At some point this week, we may need to head to Toronto for a visit with Dr. Kuruvilla. I am hoping it won’t happen but I doubt I will be so lucky, This appointment will dictate how my week goes and what I can get done. The best part though is that it looks like I am finally recovering and will be spending less time at the hospital. I do have some sad news though. I have come to a decision that I will need to postpone my fundraiser this year. I was really hoping to be in a better position by now so that I could still have it in November. I started it last November and was able to raise over $16,000 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. My plan now will be to look for a new date, hopefully in early 2020, to have it again. However, in the meantime, you can still donate to my cause and help me get to my goal of $10,000 for this year. It is now going to be a huge challenge to achieve it this year but I will take anything you are willing to give. Thanks for your support!