Doing Fairly Well

The xray on Karin's arm did not show any fractures. We were told that the cancer causes micro fractures that are too small to show on the xrays, which causes very sharp pains, and that it will be probably 2 weeks before the radiation starts to lessen the bone pain there. We got a sling for her arm and that has helped to reduce weight/strain on her shoulder. Her arm still gives her very sharp pains when she gets in and out of bed and it is very difficult for her to get comfortable in bed, and she has general weakness that makes it hard to get in and out of chairs, and she's dizzy and unsteady (may be mostly from the heavy pain meds). She also gets tired and has to sleep every couple hours, and wakes every few hours in the night. But she's gaining strength and in good spirits much of the time, and able to sit and use her computer on occasion.
Family is coming into town today for her birthday tomorrow.

Backing Up to Thursday at the Hospital

I have a bit of catching up to do, so first I will tell about my final day at the hospital...

By Thursday morning, I was anxious to go home. We had been told on Wednesday afternoon that when the doctor had come that afternoon (while I was gone at my radiation appt), he had said that I could go home that day if I wanted to -- but of course, normally he would see me first before I left. It was late and I was way too tired, so we did not leave. And we did want to talk to the doctor. So on Thursday morning, we were going with the assumption that we were leaving that day -- but we had to wait for the doctor. Apparently, despite the fact he had said all that on Wednesday, he had not filled out my discharge papers. So we waited... and waited...

Thursday morning, we sat around and watched some TV. And we had a pet therapy visit!! :) A woman asked if we would like her to come in with a dog for pet therapy. So we had a furry little visitor!! :) That was fun. I have heard about such things before, but it was interesting to experience being on the receiving end of pet therapy. :) It was really nice!! Even though I had my husband with me and was waiting to go home, it still really lifted my spirits. :) So I imagine that it could really do wonders for someone alone in the hospital or who is there for a long time.

Unfortunately, I didn't sleep most of Wednesday night. For some reason, I was not sleepy. I worked on blogging and email, but because of my left arm pain, it was hard to get much done. But overall, I felt pretty good during the night (except the left arm). Then in the morning, I started to get panicky again. I felt miserable. I was anxious, panicky, hot, etc. Apparently this is caused by my new pain patch medication. This is NOT a fun side effect! I do have some anxiety medication to take for it though. And the pain medicine really does seem to work well. It truly replaced my epidural in keeping my incision out of pain. Hooray! I had been really nervous about that. I started this week with 2 pain patches on my back (we started 12 hours before the epidural was removed), which last for 3 days.

It also felt soooo good to have the other stuff taken off my back!! There had been LOTS of tape on my back from my epidural. I would have thought that it would have hurt to take it all off -- but it felt GREAT!!!! And whenever I'd get out of bed, Steve (or my mom, when she was around) would lightly scratch or tickle my back. It was the absolute best feeling in the world now that my skin had been freed from all that tape!!!!! :) :)

So the doctor finally appeared around noon -- and he said I could go home!!!! YAY!!!! :) :) I was surprised to discover that he was going to remove my bandage and that I would go home with NOTHING on it! yikes!!! I had never even looked at the bandage while in the hospital. I always told the nurses that I didn't want to see it. ;) But when they would comment, they always said it looked great. It felt very big and went across the right side of my abdomen (but not fully around my body). So when he removed it, there was a LOT of tape yet again!! I was nervous.... but again, it was the BEST feeling to have that tape peeled off of me!!!! :) :) Then... he commented that I needed to make an appointment for Monday to have the staples removed. WHAT???!!!! No, I did not know I had staples. Of course, Steve and my dad knew everything. But I didn't want them to inform me of the conversation they had with the surgeon after the surgery on Friday. ;) So I did not like hearing about staples or about their removal!! After the bandage was gone, I did have some strange sensations though -- and did not like thinking about those being caused by you-know-whats in my body. ICK!!! Ok, change of subject. ;) ha.

In the conversation with the doctor, I also heard something vague about another detail from their conversation post-surgery on Friday, which Steve knew I wouldn't want to hear. The doctor had said that the surgery went very well. But there was some issue related to "the B word".... (that's the word I always ask nurses to not say to me when doing blood tests ;) ). I don't know what happened still, and I will probably keep it that way. ;) But I think it resulted in some low iron or something this week?? I am not educated in this area, I don't know the details, and I am not interested in being educated in this area or in knowing the details. ;) So anyway, we left the conversation at that. ha!

After that, Steve called our friend Bill to ask him to give us a hand. Bill swung by our house to get one of our cars (since we had no car at the hospital) and drove over to get us. Then they worked on loading everything from the hospital room into the car. A lot of things had accumulated -- like beautiful flowers, for instance!! :) But then we found out that it was going to take awhile longer until my discharge papers were complete. sigh. So I ate my last hospital meal. And then people arrived to take me off in an ambulance again to my radiation appointment!! I had no idea this was going to happen again. We thought we were going to be long gone... we'd drive home, then we'd head out for my radiation appointment on our own. But nope. I felt badly that Bill had to wait, but he had a chaplain friend he went to talk to.

So off we went again in an ambulance! This time, it was a different crew. And again, I was wheeled into the building in a stretcher. I like to make a grand entrance by arriving in front of a building in an ambulance and being wheeled in on a stretcher. ;) ha. Fortunately, they let Steve ride in the back again. It made me feel sort of claustrophobic back there, despite the fact the trip was so short. Shortly after my appointment, we were cleared to go home!!!!! :) :) :)

We're Home!

This is Steve. We came home Thursday afternoon, and Kevin did get his cast on his arm. We got delayed coming home and things were very hectic. Karin's surgery pain is under control but her arm pain from the cancer is getting worse, despite the strong pain meds she's on :-(. We're going in this morning for further x-rays on her arm.

You're Not Gonna Believe This....

My baby boy Kevin (age 4) BROKE HIS ARM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, he fractured his arm, and Mommy is in the hospital. This is soooo not good. :( He is doing ok though. And it actually happened last week. I think it was the morning that we were heading for the hospital - last Friday! I was concerned about it and might have looked into it then, but I had other things on my mind. And everyone else thought it was ok and we should wait and see. I'm extra paranoid about things, but I was also extra preoccupied. (Maybe it happened Thursday night? But I think it was actually the morning of surgery? Not sure now.)

I will write more later, but for now, here's a summary written up by my mom...

"Kevin had a stupid little fall last week. His Dad and I were there immediately after he fell. Neither of us felt it was anything significant. However, he complained of a sore arm for the next few days. We assumed a pulled muscle or something. But it continued through the weekend, and Mon. morning, his OT asked what was wrong. So I decided it was time to see the dr. The nurse practitioner thought that there was no way it was broken as he had full movement, but, because the OT was concerned, she wanted to have it X-rayed. It was Tues. before that happened, and Wed. before we had the results. He has a fractured humerus, so we have to see a pediatric orthopedist tomorrow. "

Poor Kevin!!!!! My poor Mom!!!!!!! :( :( :(

Ambulance Ride

An ambulance came to get me to take me to my radiation appointment this afternoon! :) While we waited for them to arrive, Steve and I took a short stroll in the hallway. WOW! My first time really walking -- and my first time leaving the room!!! :) We went very slow. I held onto Steve and wished I could hold onto the wall as well, but I can't use that arm. Bummer.

Then they put me on a stretcher! I was nervous about this, because I felt out of control, felt too high, and felt claustrophobic. But the team who helped me was awesome. :) They made sure I didn't feel claustrophobic and they lowered me closer to the ground. It felt very weird though, going down the hallways of the hospital -- seeing outside my room! And then even riding down in an elevator. I didn't like that too much. ;) Then it was warm on the ambulance, which I didn't like. But it started to cool down, and they let Steve sit in the back. The drive was very short as well.

The ride back was actually kinda fun! ;)

Then we posed for a picture together back at my room. :) We only had our cell phone camera though.

Getting set up for radiation was a little more painful than usual. But the ride outside in the fresh air was WONDERFUL!!!!! :) :)

Karin's Notes on Tuesday and Wednesday

Hi everyone! I had some stories that had been accumulating over the past couple days, so now I'm awake in the middle of the night and will tell some. :)

Like Steve mentioned, Tuesday was a major day. It was only my 3rd time getting out of bed since surgery on Friday. Each time, I went straight from the bed to a nearby chair. I was also feeling panicked, anxious, and uncomfortable. Janet came to help and visit again for a couple hours. Praise God that someone was with me when they were ready to unhook my epidural!!! Because Steve had headed home for a bit. Then right as Janet was walking out the door, Kathy (another nurse friend from church showed up :) ). Amazing timing! By the end of the day, the hospital had removed all my tubes!!! I was so thankful for both Janet and Kathy coming that day!!

Now that tubes were out, Steve and I were becoming pros at figuring out our own systems of getting out of the bed. This was no small feat (and still isn't). My left shoulder is in severe pain (from cancer) and my right side /abdomen is in severe pain (from surgery). Not good. But we're getting it down now. :)

My pain medications started to change pretty radically - but the only real effect so far has been that I'm not hooked up to anything anymore. I did feel pretty out of it all day Tuesday though, as I had a lot of crazy things in my system.

But I actually saw the other side of my room on Tuesday!! ;) I hadn't even seen all sides before!

Wednesday began in about the same condition -- improving physically, but feeling really weird and over-medicated.

Going Home Tomorrow !

We were taken by ambulance for a radiation treatment today (more on that later). When we got back, we found out that the doctor had come by and had said that normally he would like to talk to the patient on the day of discharge, but if we want to go home today, we can !! :-o

We were shocked. For one thing, they've made it clear that their waiting for a bowel movement to verify the bowels have recovered properly, and that has not happened. But they said that the bowels are sounding good and since they've given laxatives they are not worried.

But Karin was exhausted from our outing and not we've got some questions for the doctor and she wasn't emotionally prepared to go home today, so we're going to spend one more night.