Freedom

I’ve been able to spend the last 24 hrs without being plugged into anything!  Its amazing how much better I sleep without an IV line getting tangled in the covers J.  I still have my central line but the docs were nice enough to stop the fluids for a while to give me time to “rest”.  When they finally unhooked me from the IV pole (my hospital dog) I immediately thought about of that Southwest Airlines slogan, “Ding, you are now free to move about the country”.  I am doing my walks on the unit sans IV pole for now which is awesome.  I am still not allowed to leave the 10^th floor which is a bummer (believe, me I’m tempted just to hop on the elevator and take a “joy ride” to another floor just to push the limits).  J

Today is “spinal chemo” day.  It sounds bad kinda scary but it really isn’t that bad.  For those of you who have had an epidural it’s a very similar process in how they access the spinal area (with the local numbing meds that feel like bee stings).  The doc will take out some of my spinal fluid and replace it with the same volume of chemotherapy so that there is no difference in the volume/pressure once the procedure is done (if there is a difference at the end it can cause a spinal headache).     All of these procedures are starting to add up and makes me think that next time I have to fill out a medical history questionnaire I’m gonna have all sorts of “impressive” stuff to list from the past 20 years (burst appendix, failed labor induction resulting in a c-section after 3 days in the hospital trying to have Scott, bone marrow biopsy, spinal taps.)  Not much else that they could throw at me that sounds too daunting at this point J 

My parents are flying in to visit today.  It will be awesome to see my dad and reassuring to know my mom is here to help John take care of Scott for the next 2 weeks.  This morning I had a discussion with my oncologist & she really felt that I should stay in the hospital till Saturday (due to my blood work & risk for infection outside the hospital).  I tried to explain to her that its not like I’m gonna take off to Mexico or anything if they discharge me, but I understand her concerns about going home too quickly (don’t want to just turn around and have to re-admit to the hospital which would most likely be the case).  So, I’m here till Saturday (get another dose of chemotherapy then) and hoping to discharge home this weekend.  

-Chellie