Day +371: Back in the Hospital

I really did not plan to be writing my next post from a hospital bed, especially so soon after my one year re-birthday! As I have learned, life often has other plans… and they don’t often go according to my schedule. 🙂

On Sunday, my friends and family held a BBQ celebration for my one year post-transplant anniversary. We caught a break with the weather, and it was a great time of getting to catch up with family and friends that I had not seen in a while, and were so critical in supporting me, my husband, and the boys during this journey. What I didn’t get a chance to say on Sunday, was that it really was a celebration for EVERYONE, because this has been a group effort from the very beginning. Without all of your love, support, prayers, meals, calls, texts, cards, babysitting, etc… I could not have fought this battle. Your giving allowed me to focus on my healing. Thank you, from the very bottom of my heart… to each and every one of you.

After the BBQ on Sunday, we got home and loaded the refrigerator with the leftovers, and my husband started to get the chills and body aches. He was also having heart palpitations, which of course concerned me a great deal. I sent him to bed, and he woke up the next morning with a fever, sinus pain and overall weakness. I got the kids ready and off to camp, me to work, and then he went to the doctor. The doctor did a ton of blood cultures, and diagnosed him with a possible sinus infection. She also believed that he might have Lyme’s Disease and ran further tests.

Tuesday came with him not feeling much better, and I was pretty tired myself. I came home from work feeling exhausted, but didn’t think much of it, as my day had been a long one. By the time I got into bed, however, I knew I was getting sick.

Low and behold… I woke up Wednesday morning with the exact same symptoms my husband experienced just a few days earlier. I – quite literally – could not even roll over in bed. I took my temperature. 99.8. Ugh. When it gets to 100, I have to call my oncologist as a standing rule. I laid there another half hour. Took it again. 100. Sigh. Called the Cancer Institute, and my oncologist ordered me straight to the emergency room for evaluation. I think it took me about an hour to get up out of bed and get my clothes on. Very surreal, as I felt as weak as I did a year ago today, when I was recovering from my transplant.

After a preliminary evaluation in the ER, the oncologist decided to admit me to the bone marrow transplant unit for observation and more testing. Growl. I just wanted to go home and sleep… I never get much rest here in the hospital, with all of the poking, sticking and vitals every 3 hours. But, my immune system levels have dropped significantly over the last couple of weeks, so I am exceptionally vulnerable again. They, rightly so, want me to be treated where they can control the environment and ensure my safety and health. It’s not so bad… I get to visit with my nursing family again.

Still waiting for test results, so not sure of the cause yet. Having a catscan of my sinuses tomorrow, and tonight… got the lovely experience of a nasal swab. I was given a choice: have a metal probe stuck up your nose, or… snort saline up one nostril and blow it out the other. That’s a choice?!?!?? Not enjoying the feeling of blowing things out my nose (although, those who know me well, also know that this a particular skill of mine), I opted for the probe. Now, this wasn’t just a Q-Tip up the nose. It was a metal Q-Tip with a scrapey thingy on top. And the nurse stuck it up as far up my left nostril as she could reach, I think she might have hit my eyeball. She did her little scraping, then it was done. This *has* to be a form of torture in some nations.

So tonight I go to sleep back in my familiar hospital surroundings, frustrated with the setback, but trying to make the best of it. I’m considering putting a sign in my window (which faces the street), that says “HELP! Send gummi bears!” Think it will work? 🙂

Cheers, my friends. Hug your loved ones and tell them how special they are. Life is way too short.

For your listening pleasure… and to make you smile 🙂

Note: The above video seems to have been taken down.  It is a parody of the song “Elvira” by the Oak Ridge Boys (original video here) with the lyrics below:

Everyone in Houston
is sicker than a dog.
We’re coughing and aching and snortin’ like a hog.
We’re gonna spend our last dollar
on shots and drugs to swollar.
We’re gonna stay in bed the whole day long.

And we’ll be singin’
Flu Virus
Flu Virus
It’s undesireous,
this Flu Virus.

Fever up.
A barf cough a barf cough a barf cough a oww oww.
Fever up.
A barf cough a barf cough a barf cough a oww oww.
Call my doctor today.

Flu Virus
Flu Virus
It’s undesirous,
this Flu Virus.

Fever up.
A barf cough a barf cough a barf cough a oww oww.
Fever up.
A barf cough a barf cough a barf cough a oww oww.
Call my doctor today.