Home Again

My last post had me in the hospital with the beautiful caring people at Kaiser's San Leandro hospital.  On Wednesday before Thanksgiving we decided coming home would be best for me.  No further chemo would help me and my oncologist Dr. Kuan told us home would be best.  We talked to Patti the social worker and she told us about the care we could get from Hospice. 

Our next thought was how we could maneuver the 26 steps into our apartment.  Gurneys would be too big and bulky to work.  I figured I would have two studly good looking men carry me up.  No, in fact two beautiful petite young women showed up.  They were strong as an ox.  We arrived at home and we waited for a handsome man to bring a special gurney chair.  They carried me upstairs backwards.  It was a wild ride.

After settling in I was transferred from Kaiser to Hospice.  Hospice came later in the day to make an assessment and go over procedures they would use.  4 days a week someone from Hospice will be here for about an hour to go over what has transpired from their last visit, bathe me and help with light housework.  The next two days we spent rearranging the apartment to accommodate a bed for me and other equipment.  Our son Erik helped with moving things around too.  On Saturday they delivered my bed.  The bed is electric and my brother and Marty bought rich red sheets to cheer me up.  Red matched other furnishings in the room that are red.

Every day my legs are stronger but  I am still very weak.  I'm trying not to be cranky but seems like everything upsets me.  Then I am  mean and feel like a bitch.  I am eating more day by day as I get further away from my last chemo treatment.  Little brother Hank and his wonderful wife nurse Ann have been a godsend to us.  They have taken care of me and helped us cook, wash dishes and clean the apartment.  When they leave it is going to really get hard.

Posts will be more irregular because we are overwhelmed with this change in our lives.  We want you to be informed about my condition but just check Facebook and my blog because it is difficult to keep up with all of the phone calls and texts.  If you are healthy and will wear a mask you are welcome to visit for a very very short period because my energy level will not let me be sociable for very long.  My voice is also very weak.

To all of the prayer warriors to pray for calmness bravery and acceptance.  Pray for Marty as my caregiver He has also been writing this as I tell him what to say.  God bless each and every one of you with much love.

Kaiser to the Rescue !!!!

This week has had more drama than usual.  Monday the lab work (blood work) came back with lots of different issues.  When they took vitals I had a low grade fever.  They told me to check my temperature every hour or so,  parts were out of the normal range.  Tuesday instead of chemo they hydrated me and gave a mineral cocktail.  They told me that if my temp got to 100.4 or more to go to the Emergency Room.  The fever was staying in the normal range, but it jumped into the dangerous Will Robinson land after 9:00 pm.  So off to the ER at 9:30 pm ( we had to get dressed from PJs to clothes).

They hydrated me on arrival and then took "gallons" of blood.  Some of the tests would take three days because cultures had to grow.  About 2 am they decided to admit me to the hospital because there were so many issues going on.  I was still very very weak like last week, and maybe even worse.

From early Wednesday through late afternoon Saturday I was in the hospital.  During that time I was hydrated, on antibiotics (IV) and many minerals that I was low in.  They also fed me antibiotics during my stay to fight the infection.  As usual, Kaiser provided fantastic care and attention to me as if I were their only patient.  The blood tests came back including the cultures and all were in the good range except for one minor infection that I am treating with antibiotics for the next week and a half.

After i got home last night, I am resting more because the noise level is lower and Marty does not check my blood pressure every two hours.  Also the moaning and yelling patient down the hall is not here with me.  I am trying to walk more (with a walker) to regain my strength.  I am forcing myself to eat more even though food tastes awful.  Not because of Marty's cooking ,but because of my taste buds.

Prayer warriors, its been a tough week and I appreciate it so much.  We do not expect it to get much better so I need you to kick it into overdrive,   God bless each and every one of you.

How do I spend my day as I recover?

Just what does someone recovering from heart problems and side effects from chemo do all day?  When I came home from the hospital 2 weeks ago, not a whole hell of a lot.  Now I am stronger and every day is better.

I get up and fix my breakfast.  I have been eating a lot of eggs lately, they want me to eat lots of protein.  So we forget the cholesterol problem.  Pills control that.  Plus I don't do eggs everyday.  Then I clean me up and put on real clothes.  At first a shower wore me out, but now not so tired.  About this time I take my shot and pills.

Now it is time for the leg exercises for my swollen legs.  I do these twice a day.  The legs are now looking close to normal in the morning but by evening they are swollen.  But nothing like when I came home.

Because of the swollen legs I am to sit and keep my legs up most of the time.  So my recliner is my best friend.  Of course it isn't good to just sit all day, so I walk down the hall every couple of hours.

I watch a lot of idiot TV.  I have lots of mindless shows recorded and they fill up the day.  I watch a lot of the Home and Garden channel, History channel, and The Learning Channel.  House Hunters, Property Brothers, Love it or List it, Say Yes to the Dress, What not to wear, American Pickers and on and on.  When I had the eye infection this helped me keep my sanity, because I couldn't see well enough to read.  Now I am able to read and that fills up a lot of the day.

I fix my lunch and wash up breakfast and lunch dishes.  Then it is back to the recliner to watch TV or to read.  And maybe to nap.  After a rest I walk the apartment to build strength.  Up to 10 minutes.  going for 15 today.

Supper Marty cooks, and now I can set the table and wash up dishes.  Then it is time for leg exercises and then into my jammies.  Marty and I watch better TV together until bedtime. Pills and another shot in the early evening. Then to bed and the next day it all begins again. 

Many days we go to Kaiser for blood work and doctor appointments.  Next week chemo begins again.  This time I will have three weeks of chemo and then we will evaluate what is happening.

Yes, pretty  boring at times.  But it is making me stronger.  I hope to not need a wheel chair when we go to Kaiser Monday.  It is a big building and a lot of walking.  Hope I can do it.

Oh, today I am feeling great.  So I have made chili for supper.  Marty is excited to not have to cook.