Rory March 18

3-18-2012 (Sunday) – Rory

Today has been another long, not fun day.

 

During the night I was extra thankful for one of Preston's thoughtful gifts – earplugs! I think it was the only way I was able to actually get snippets of sleep during the night. I had an unusual reaction to the Tramadol, which was unexpected because this is the same med/dosage I have been using at home. I became really groggy, with a heavy drugged feeling. Had to have Nurse A totally help me to the bathroom. Just a few hours later, still had to have total help again. Rough considering yesterday/last night I had been doing SO well.

 

Other rough thing of the night was that my roommate appears to have become very ill. They are having to help her clean up her bedding and the bathroom several times. Again, I was SOOO extra thankful to Preston for packing earplugs for me, I think they are the only reason I got any sleep at all.

 

I had finally settled down again early AM after having had vitals/labs done (again) when Nurse C gently shook me and told me they were moving me to a different room. No one would say much, but apparently my roommate's illness is more than not ok. They were moving me for my safety, esp since just coming off chemo my white cell count was already a concern.

A whole flock of sweet nurses helped get me and my things moved into another room not far away and helped me get all re-settled. Shortly after they moved me, the other room was quarantined. Nurse D was not able to give me any info at that time, but promised that the attending Dr was aware of the situation, and would let me know if there were any concerns that would effect me ASAP. I was extra thankful for the quiet of the new room and my new roommate since shortly after that I started not feeling well at all.

 

Nurse D was so attentive and patient. I was just getting a bit freaked out that after having done so well yesterday that all of a sudden I was experiencing extreme nausea, light headedness, big hot flashes, and feeling extra weak. Nurse D was able to give me some Zofran, which took the edge off things and I crashed and slept for several hours. I repeated this pattern most of the day, with Nurse D hovering over me and doing everything she could to make me comfortable and try to calm my stress levels. I kept soaking my gown and bedding, and she was extra wonderful to help me get a "bath" and change all my clothes and bedding. She has been such an angel and so very sweet.

 

Another sweet nurse paid me a surprise visit – Karen from the IV team. She was the nurse who was in the ER with us and got my port accessed and got me all set up. She was making rounds on our floor and we were both surprised when she popped in on me. It was great to be able to chat with her and give her an update. It felt good to have the chance to tell her thanx for doing such an awesome job with my port and how huge it has been to have it working so well. It was also great to hear her tell me to give MRI and surgery staff the "what for" if they fuss about accessing my port. She told me to be sure to boss them and make them use it. She has a very spunky personality, and it definitely showed while she was giving me the "what for." J

 

All day we waited for Dr L to come and update me on concerns and to make a go home plan. Nurse D said she thought it was a good sign that I was on the end of her rounds since that indicated that she thought I was one of her healthier patients. I guess it was ok that she hadn't come all day considering that I had been so sick all day, definitely not in a condition to go home.

 

Dr L finally arrived around 530pm. She was NOT happy that my heart rates have continued to set off the monitors and that we cant find the cause of the severe jumps. She ordered several more heart tests to be done immediately and then she disappeared again. A heart tech came in with a portable EKG machine and she got a reading of my heart rhythm with me sitting and standing. After she was done, Nurse D did some blood pressure/heart rate tests with me laying down, sitting and standing. Dr L had also ordered an ECG (echocardiogram/heart ultrasound) but found out the tech had already left for the day. She didn't care and asked him to come back because she wanted everything done tonight. Apparently she has a pretty big reputation for getting what she wants because she is so good at what she does. That made me feel better. By the time Nurse D and I were done, had IV team come in for more labs too. Cute older woman and gentleman. She was very chatty and he seemed gruff but I could tell he wasn't really by the way they teased back and forth. Could tell they have worked together a really long time. Both of them were great. Also found out that I am also gaining a bit of a reputation since being here. The IV nurse had mentioned talking about me with IV nurse who helped get me settled in the ER because I was extra kind and had expressed my thanx to her for everything. Nice to know that just being kind can go a long way. I am also getting the reputation for being the "troublemaker" because I keep throwing out more stuff than we can get figured out. Everyone teases me, it is nice to be in such a wonderful environment even under not nice circumstances.

 

The ECG tech finally arrived. You know how first impressions really stick with you? Not even kidding, this guy had muscles bulging out of his short sleeves, and he looked like Hercules. He was extra cheerful and enthusiastic  and we carried on quite the fun banter during my tests. We also talked pretty seriously about looking for blessings in the midst of trial and that we aren't given more than we can handle, etc. He was another person to ask me about my family/kiddos. It never ceases to make me laugh at how people react when I tell them that I have SIX children. The tech's comment was "Whoa, you've been a busy lady" – one of the more creative comments I have had in the last few days. It felt good to be able to laugh a little after having had such a rough day.

 

For those who don't know, and ECG is pretty much an ultrasound of the heart. The tech had turned the screen to let me watch and he was great to answer all of my questions and explain things. Not every day you get to see your heart working and learn all the interesting info. Of course, info he couldn't share was anything he was seeing on the screen. Will have to wait to chat with Dr L tomorrow about results. By the time we were finished it had taken almost an hour, and the "changing of the guard" had also happened. Nurse D had gone home without me being able to say "bye". I am hoping that means that she will be my nurse again tomorrow, so she maybe didn't feel like she needed to say anything before leaving. Guess will find out in a couple of hours.

 

After shift change, Nurse M came in to introduce herself and check on me. At that point, my tummy was churning again, and I could only pick at the dinner I had ordered (hoping I might be feeling ok enough to eat) I was also feeling uncomfy as far as pain, so Nurse M was able to bring in pain meds, new tummy meds we are working on, and Zofran. Not sure if things just finally caught up with me, or all the meds at once on empty stomach or what, but moments after I gave up on eating and had decided to just sleep, I was totally caught by surprise when I just started throwing up. Not fun. Was extra thankful for the barf bag that we had left laying on my side table, only thing that saved all of my bedding.

My sweet roommate had finally gone to sleep, but I had woken her up because I was sick, and she was so kind that she also hit her nurse call button to bring Nurse M running. Had the CNA and Nurse M come. All I could do was apologize. Felt horrible for getting sick, but also better since it was the first time all day that my stomach wasn't churning. Thankfully, clean up was pretty simple and Nurse M got me all resettled to try to sleep. Which I did….for awhile.

 

About 3am I woke up because of a heavy, soaking hot flash. I sat up trying to get my breath and clawing at all the bedding to get it off of me as fast as possible. While sitting there I heard the monitor and one of the nurses walking the floor and commenting that she was "trying to find herself the tymporetic (sp?) I just sat there silently laughing and commenting to myself "uh, that would be me." A cute nurse with a stressed look on her face finally found me – apparently in just sitting up and that little bit of movement my heart rate jumped up to 166! She looked relieved when I asked her for some cool washcloths and tried to explain I was ok, just normal for me. Except this time wasn't so normal. In just sitting there talking with the nurse and trying to cool down I set the monitor off again almost as high. I continued to sit there to see if it would come back down (which usually it does pretty quickly) The CNA came in to do vitals again and I decided I might as well make another bathroom run while she was there to help. In doing so, though, I set it off higher again and laughed as Nurse M called to me from the nurse's station (directly across from my doorway) to "go back to bed!" I found that I was short of breath on the way back to bed, and we discussed whether I was going to need oxygen or not. I decided to just try to rest for a bit and see if things would calm down.

 

Thankfully they did, for the most part. I ended up setting the monitor off at least 4x in a 30 minute window, with rate higher than it has ever been. Hoping this might be helpful info for Dr L to try to figure things out considering I have heard through the grapevine that my other labs and ECG came back with no immediate concerns and it was more info than the other tests were probably able to gather…Hot flashes continue to come on and one of the nurses was able to find me a box fan. Hopefully it will help keep me cooler, and will be good "white noise" for the rest of the night. Hopefully it wont be a bother to my roommate. She is pretty nice though, and was also asking for our room to be cooler, maybe it will be good for both of us (even though it is a bit loud)

 

Guess at this point, will just have to wait and see what more I can learn when Dr L, or whoever is attending, does rounds later today. Seems there are still concerns, but if we cant find a conclusive reason or enough answers, not sure there is really any more reason to keep me. I will try to update more soon.