Today started out on a high. I woke up and checked both our checking accounts to find we had both been paid. I got a notification yesterday that I had a paystub to review which was an indication that I was going to get paid today, but I never had time to review it. I knew this should be my last paycheck and it is all the PTO time I earned while at Watertown. I was pleasantly surprised. Geoff also got paid, but there were no great surprises with his check.
I immediately started paying bills, the last few for September and a bunch for October. My check is probably already gone, but I don't care I can honestly say I had fun paying bills.
I also got to take E to preschool for the first time ever. I've picked him up before, but due to my radiation schedule I have never gotten to drop off on time (the first day I dropped him off, but we were late so I didn't get to sing a song with him and do the drop-off routine). I'm not sure he really cared that I was there, but I did.
After Ella and I dropped off E we did a bunch of errands at a frantic speed and then headed back home to take care of a few more things. Shortly after we got back home my parents arrived and then it was time to head to Madison for internal radiation round 2.
To minimize the amount of time that Geoff misses work I decided to have my dad drop me off at the hospital today while my mom was picking up E from preschool (Ella came in the car with us). My dad dropped me off at the door of the hospital and headed home and I begrudgingly headed into the hospital.
Overall everything went ok, but there were a few quirks and once again most of them are centered around my port. I have to go to a place called the "Care Initiation Unit" when I get to the hospital. They give me a room, admit me and do all my admission paperwork. Shortly thereafter someone from the transport team comes to get me and transports me on a stretcher (not sure why a wheelchair wouldn't work because I don't stay on the stretcher) to "High Dose Radiation" area. The transport person was nice, and she did her job. Unfortunately for me, this also included leaving me alone in the bowels of the hospital (or technically a building next to but attached to the hospital) on a stretcher skyhigh in a mostly empty and cold hallway.
There were people around, but they were all in rooms getting ready for my arrival. They could see me and they even looked up at me, but it took a few minutes before anyone actually acknowledged me. Then of course, they all needed to talk to me at once. I had questions myself, but many of them were lost when the anesthesia team showed up. This week there were no residents, instead I had a attending and nurse anesthetist. I was excited. I declared I wanted them to use my port. They replied (not actually directed to me) that they didn't have any needles to access it. Someone else told them they could have some sent down via the hospital tube system. This resulted in a conversation about whether or not there was a tube system to this area.
Eventually someone got the required needle. I was pleased....but then...So if you read my post on Tuesday where I included the information about having my port accessed you would have seen that the person accessing the port usually wears a mask, it is a sterile procedure, and they are supposed to use a special scrub (chlorhexidine) for no less than a minute for infection control. Well, they didn't do that. Much to my dismay one of them pulled out an alcohol wipe, wiped off my port site once or twice and then poked me with the needle. They hit the plastic part of my port so they pulled it out and tried again. Yes, you read that right. They inserted the needle, then removed it, and then reinserted it. They did it again too.
Needless to say, they never actually poked me where they were supposed to, but for some reason on the 3rd time it flushed. There was of course, no blood return, but they slapped a small tegaderm (type of dressing that really doesn't cover ports too well) on it and decided to go with it. When I woke up in recovery room I realized within a minute or so, that they must have decided that the port wasn't working for them and decided instead to put an IV in my hand once they got me to sleep (I was told by one of the anesthesia team that the port was "too sluggish"). I was not happy.
I did not spend much time in recovery once again, but I had a nurse on orientation so I was there a little longer while she caught up on her charting. Once I got back to the care initiation unit I had to hang out for awhile before they would discharge me, but mostly I just ate dinner. Geoff showed up a few minutes after me and it wasn't long before I asked if I could leave.
We called my parents and asked them if they would pick our dogs up from doggy daycare because we weren't going to make it back in time to get them by 6pm. I'm not sure exactly what time it was when we got home, but my parents were annoyed with us. I was dropped off at the hospital at 11:30ish and I told them I wasn't scheduled to really start until 12:30. I also told them it was a 3-4 hour procedure again, but I think what was heard was that we would be done by 3 or 4 pm.
My dad is leaving at some ridiculously early hour in the morning tomorrow to go hunting out in Wyoming so they wanted to get home as soon as possible. I wasn't feeling so great when we first got home and when I got harassed about taking too long today and making them stay too long I was irritated. I do not like asking or relying on others for help, even my parents. I try very hard to be a good communicator, but it seems that sometimes no matter what I say the message doesn't come across appropriately. Regardless I was fairly annoyed with my parents. I told them I did the best I could, I had no control over when I was done or got to leave the hospital, that I came home as soon as I could, and that I did not appreciate the unnecessary hassle they were creating for me. I did also apologize and tell them that next time we will consider other resources so we are not a burden to them (this has and was offered before).
Unfortunately, I am a hothead and so is my dad. My mom on the hand is a pacifist who does nothing to help the situation, so when I am angry or frustrated they immediately act like I am being ridiculous and leave. Not exactly what I needed. Really not what anyone needed, but it was their choice. It left us feeling pretty low.
Fast forward a few hours and one of my best friends from school and her husband arrived from Indianapolis for the weekend. We stayed up too late talking and I am excited to say I think it will be a great weekend, especially today...which is good because as of right now it is officially our 5th Wedding Anniversary!!! I love you, Geoff.
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