Bunn’s Prairie

…if you want to get any sleep! Yup, I’m back home. I’ve spent most of the day making sure all flat surfaces in our condo are still “sleepable”. The testing went pretty well, I’m happy to report!

This stay was relatively short. I think the worst of my vomiting, and the worst of the UTI were already behind me before I ever went down to the hospital. It took a couple more days of rehydration, a few tentative sips of diet coke and a couple of Ritz Bitz crackers, before I decided I was stable enough to get out of bed. This morning they tried to push 60 mL of potassium in my J-tube (before diluting it with water, and not counting their mLs of “flushes”. On an empty tummy at 8 in the morning, I thought my intestines were going to explode. In fact, I did wind up with some acid burn, that must have “backsplashed” when all the potassium tried to get pushed through. Grr. My nurse didn’t really understand the difference between a J-tube and a G-tube, and that my J-tube has a finite number of Milliliters it can hold (no more than 90, total). I was especially crabby, as I wasn’t on my usual unit, and was asked about my flu-like symptoms - TWICE. They were all very nice, just didn’t seem to know how to help me.

Oh well, I am feeling pretty decent tonight. Now, all I really want is a shower. Here’s hoping the sun shines on everyone , this weekend!! If you can stand how bad I smell, give me a call!!

I brought Kaley back in to the hospital this morning.  Honestly I am shocked I didn’t bring her in earlier this week.  This week started with her having a rough time digesting the food from the BBQ and just couldn’t get get it under control.  I made sure she got all of her meds Monday and Tuesday but we finally decided she needed fluids to prevent dehydration.

We had a most enjoyable afternoon out at our friend Dennis’ house for a BBQ. And no, luckily only the brats and ribs were left with grill marks. I was good and wore my “Waterbabies 50″ sunblock. Hardly more than a pink glow to my igloo-white skin! In addition to good food and good friends, it did me well to see bit of day light and sunshine!

Oooo—oooo!! And GUESS WHAT!!! My friend Chris gave me my very own special RED BUCKET!! I’ve been complaining for eons about the nature of those horrible hospital issue barf colored barf buckets. This member of the bucket brigade will now travel in style!! I mean, really, if your bucket doesn’t match your shoes and your purse, what sort of girl are you??

I have spent so much of the past two weeks sleeping , “erping”, and crawling from function to function. I’ve made it to and through some big things and very happily celebrated Father’s Day with my family. Andy, his Dad, and the whole Saeger crew came for the Twin’s game. It was quite a game!!

Along the way, I’ve gotten together with my friend Mary over some basil pizza — we’d been missing our “Wed. night car chats”, as choir is out for the summer. I also brought Subway sandwiches down to Orch. Hall one afternoon and had a fabulous lunch hour with my sister, but that already seems like eons ago, too! I’m hoping to catch up with her again. Getting from here to Nicollet Mall proves to be really quick and easy, so maybe we’ll be able to get together every week or two.

I finally spent an evening with Malia and Aislin, (kind of) watching Lady and the Tramp and chasing the kitties, but that was only after Aislin had given the remote control back, and I had safely extracted the poisonous “pet-off” spray from her mouth. At one and a half, I’m sure it’s hard to decide whether cat spray or pizza tastes better. Who knows? Can’t knock it till I’ve tried it, now can I? All I know is Malia moves faster than I can even fathom. I think God keeps reminding me that there are reasons that I have not been blessed with any children of my own. I think Both AZ and I were in need of comfy blankets and naps by about 8:30!!

Andy and I made it to his nephew Alex’s graduation party, also, and I think I have a better idea of who’s related to who! I get at least five years to master this whole extended family business, right?? I’m going with Andy’s Mom and sisters over to Aunt Jane’s house for a “girl’s night out” this Weds. It should be a good time! I was going to joke that we could all sit around and do each other’s hair, but Jane IS a beautician. Hmmm…Maybe I could use a trim??

Speaking of the sleepies and nausea and all, it has been a rough patch since I last was out of the hospital with a Zyvox prescription in my hand. Heck — I wouldn’t even call it just a “rough patch”…it’s as though no one’s mowed the lawn since last year. Pretty scraggly and full of weeds. The Zyvox is one of the ugliest medications I’ve encountered — as I’ve said, I’m not sure whether the med or the infection is going to kill me first. Well, before we went to Florida, I gave up on it after a day-and-a-half. This time I dug in my heels, and though I couldn’t get two full doses in a day, I did get one in. I was supposed to be done on Monday. My transplant coordinator told me to stop taking it, and that my latest Urinalysis showed that I had a slightly different “bug”. I thought that sample was going to be retested for sensitivities (no, not to chick flicks, to medications!), but somehow that didn’t happen. Well, since I’ve been down at the big house, pumping iron rather frequently, I asked them to run another urinalysis. Besides, everyone knows, I just love peeing in a cup.

I received iron Thursday and Friday, I think — and got a hold of my UA results on Saturday. Andy was out at my folk’s house working on their computer, and it was noon by the time I called floor 6B for my results. In a flurry of phone calling, and what not, they told me to get my rear down to the Procedure room and I would be able to receive my first dose of Vanco. Funny that this was from the same Doctor that was complaining about my Transplant Coordinator, saying that “she shouldn’t have taken me off of the Zyvox” and that “no other drug was going to work”. Whatever.

I called a cab, but in true cab company fashion, they didn’t send it in twenty minutes, like I requested, and the driver had come and gone in that amount of time. The guy on the phone said he wouldn’t send out another one because his drivers “don’t like those short trips, anyway”. Well, since he was friendly and helpful, I figured if there was a bus gong toward the U on Washington Avenue, I would find it. With something that probably looked more like a hop-waddle, skip-jump than a jog, I went lurching down Washington Avenue. At some point down by Theater in the Round, I did get on a bus, but I was a tad ragged by then.

Long story, long, I got my first dose of Vancomycin, and am all set up so that I can run it at home as I do my other antibiotics. I was a bit tentative this evening, not sure about the queasy quotient, but all in all, it went rather smooth. Yippie! Hooray!!

So with sunshine, shining on me, I want to wish my friend Taylor a Happy Birthday, and sign off. Catch y’all on the flip side!

Hi to all! I am hoping that tomorrow afternoon will bring with it the calm and time to post a blog. My past several days have been spent fighting as valiantly as possible to take part in and attend things both important to me as well as others I love. I have some good stories, and some misc. medical who-ha to report. Much is still “in the works”.

I have been so exhausted that when we finally made it to the couch for “quality” Kaley and Andy time to watch a movie last might, I was sawing logs in less than five minutes. Apparently I gave the movie a much better review than Andy did. He only said it was probably two out of five stars….I gave my nap at least three if not four stars. It even included drool!

Sweet slumber, until the morrow.

I’m kind of doubting that I had a dream about John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John, but today, “Sleep” was definitely “the word that I heard”. ?? I don’t know what happened. Last night was rough with the late night meds. The nausea started with the beginning of the IV azithromycin, and never really quit… Today, I just couldn’t wake up. I tried a few times, and kept falling asleep – wherever I flopped down. That’s pretty unusual for me. I’ve never been someone who falls asleep sitting up, or at a moment’s notice.

I’m betting that other than the obvious infectious culprits, this is probably an issue of low iron. Dr. Spong’s been toying with the idea of replacing my iron over the next two weeks, and I think tomorrow might be a good time to start. It’s a pretty intensive process, as it has to be done in four parts, each taking an hour or two, from what I remember. I’ll probably need a few Epogen shots as “boosters” along the way. Normally they would just give me the epo shots, but if my base iron levels are way too low, there isn’t enough iron for the hormone to work with and produce the necessary extra red blood cells.

In a nutshell, No RBCs = no energy = TIRED!!!

So, I finally crawled out – for real - sometime after 8pm tonight. Goodness. Nothing like ruining one of those rare, free weekend days that Andy and I could have spent together.

I will try not to focus on what makes me grumbly. Yesterday was a beautiful day. I (once again) had to work in some nap time, but had the chance to spend most of the day out in the sunshine. Yippie!! Andy and I walked down to the Mill City Farmer’s Market in the morning. It was fun to check out, even though it’s a pretty small venue. We made a major purchase – one, very small “cat nip” plant. Hee! I hear that such things are very tasty, as well as being wildly fun to roll in! I took my nap early afternoon, planted my catnip, put it out by the flowers on our porch, and decided it was high-time that I tried out our pool this summer!! Andy said he’d join me, so we grabbed our new pool floaties (something I’d eyed up with envy, last summer!) and headed outside. It was a hoot! I wasn’t sure how to climb aboard my raft, so I wound up in rather a cannonball position, and darn near sank my little boat!! Andy was a bit more graceful than I, but I did discover that I could use a little broader surface area to stay on the surface of the water. I could have fit two of me across!! Oh, well. Some of us have found that twerpiness is our destiny. We floated and paddled around for close to an hour, but I got chilly after a time. It was pretty windy! Headed for shore, and gave our pal Jimmy T. a call to see if he was up for some eats and greets….

:) More fun!! We headed across the river to “Tugs” where they are known for their patio dining and live music. It always feels like a good place to chatter away for a few hours, and just relax. Andy and I think we saw “Mike” the horse that pulled our carriage on the night we got married. I don’t know if he’d remember us, but I could bring him the picture and see if he’d autograph it with a hoof mark!

Of course, as soon as our food came, I wasn’t feeling terribly well, so rather than push it, I just had them box up my chicken strips, and sipped my diet Coke on the patio. Luckily my tummy seemed to hold out. I didn’t really want to give up on our nice evening outside! When we left Tugs, we decided to toodle around our neighborhood a bit. It had been a long time since Jimmy had been in the area, and I, honestly, haven’t had that many chances to explore, yet, either. We eventually wound up down at the Guthrie, and took a “self guided” tour around, and than went out on “The Bridge to Nowhere” (or whatever it’s really called!) and sat and watched the sun setting with all the lights on the stone arch bridge and the city. It was beautiful!! Ahhhhhhhh…..

Showed Jimmy our place, but eventually all of had to give in for the evening. Like I mentioned earlier, it was a rough night for meds…. Glad I had such a wonderful day before.

Tomorrow will be busy. I meet with two of my transplant surgeons at 10ish, to get input on the cervix/hysterectomy issue. With my new pancreas snuggled up next to my uterus, there is the potential for some serious problems. I need to know what they are, and what my Doctors feel is the appropriate war to proceed. Unlike the OB/GYN that I have developed an extreme “distaste” for, I have more respect for the Transplant team. They’ve, at least, never suggested that someone could throw a knife at any part of my body, because I wouldn’t feel it. After my appointments, I am hoping to get results from both my bloodwork and urinalysis that were done on Friday, and see if they can get me in to the procedure room in the afternoon for my first bag of iron. Somewhere in the middle, if health and weather allow, I might give Dave a call to see if he wants to grab some lunch. Low iron must mean a burger from Sally’s is on the menu! Can I get a prescription for that??

“Off to see a man about some meds”…and maybe a horse, if there happens to be one in my path. Y’all have a good start to your week!!