Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Give thanks to the God of gods,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
To Him who alone does great wonders,
For His lovingkindness is everlasting;
I had a good night's sleep, and woke up on time. There wasn't really any time to think about things much. I wasn't supposed to eat, so that was out of the way. I gathered my stuff, Riley gathered his stuff, and we were off. The stuff was what keeps you occupied just in case you find yourself just hanging out without much to do. That didn't happen much, but I'm always prepared.
When we got there, just on time, there at the desk was a friend of ours from church - Kristan Soto. That was a pleasant surprise. She was the one to take us into a little room and ask us questions. Then when she was done, she escorted us to the prep room. I really can't remember the name of the place, but it was across from the cafeteria. I was given a gown, and told to put it on and put all the rest of my clothes (except my panties, which I was allowed to keep on) into this very nice bag. Then I wiggled up onto the bed. It started out very uncomfortable, but Riley raised the bed so I was close to sitting up, and that felt much better. I was cold, but noticed that the blanket was very odd, looking like they cold inflate it, and that is exactly what the nurse did. She inflated it with warm air. I then was very comfortable.
Then someone came to check my vital signs, and take some of my blood. I could tell pretty quickly that she was in training. That's not my favorite thing when it comes to taking my blood, but she managed pretty well. Then the needle that she put into the top of my right hand was left there, and ad IV device was put on it. So from then on I was hooked to this thing. I think that for the most part it was putting water into my body, because when it was all over I had to go to the bathroom a lot.
Riley realized that he needed to charge his phone, so he left to go charge it a bit in the car. They were going to want to get a hold of him after I was done with surgery. He wasn't gone long.
Lots of nurses came and introduced themselves, and asked me my name and date of birth (that's to make sure they really know who they are talking to), Then after a while my doctor came in. She was wearing jeans and an orange top, and high healed sandals and and carrying a big purse, and she looked great, like she was from Paris. She really is a very delightful person.
We chatted a while, and then she drew a big purple flower on my left shoulder, to indicate on which side the port was to go. This was obviously not so much for her info, as for the people prepping me.
Me and my doctor
Then she got her ipod our of her purse and said she'd like us to listen to a song that had been written by and sung by her niece, who's mother had had breast cancer twice. My doctor had asked her niece to do the song for her new book that is coming out in a few weeks. It was a really lovely song, very touching as she sang about caring for her mother. I did not ask if her mother lived, and I forgot to ask the name of the book. When we had finished listening to the song, she prayed for me and for herself. This again was so encouraging. I was so taken by her praying that I lost my nerve to pray also. I must get over that. She was then off to get into her surgery clothes.
Then I asked when I was going to get a hair net, because I knew my hair would be in the way. Someone produced a hair net immediately. So I put it on, and I was sitting there like that when I spotted Warren and Shirley Fleishman coming into the are. they were slow to recognize me, and I soon realized that was because of the hair net, and of course I was not in my normal place they would be used to seeing me. I promptly took off the hair net. Warren is a pastor at the church we went to for about 20 years, and Shirley is his dear sweet enthusiastic wife who can hardly say two sentences together without one of the being scripture. It was a real delight to see them. I used to see Warren in Starbucks where I would be grading exegetical papers, and he would be doing his church paper work. They also prayed for me. And then as Shirley and I were chatting someone came and told us to be quieter. Shirley said that's okay, people say that to her all the time. It's her exuberant enthusiasm that I like so much about her. I told her that my favorite characteristic in people is enthusiasm, and then I told her that the origin of the work was "possessed by God". I'm not sure of the exact phrase I used, but I had the right idea, and I could see that Shirley knew about that too. Warren was across the room talking and praying with the librarian form our old church. i did not ask why she was there.
Me and Shirley and Warren Fleischman
I talked with more nurses, and looked at my new Vogue Knitting Magazine, and did a crossword puzzle with Riley, and then they finally said it was time to take me away. Riley walked along with me for a bit, and then he remembered to give me a big kiss, and at that he left. After going down a few hallways, I was pushed into the operating room. They had me move over to the operating table. Then I laid down, said that it was rather comfortable, and that is the last thing I remember.
When I finally came to, about two hours later, I was very groggy, but I felt fine. I asked to be sat up so that I could actually come to. This helped a lot. And if I remember correctly, I wanted to go to the bathroom. It was all that water they were pumping into me. Then when I sat back on the bed I saw crackers. But for some reason I had to wait a while before they would give me the crackers. I was sooooo hungry.
They had oxygen in my nose, and for some reason they were concerned that my blood pressure was too low. They weren't going to let me out of the hospital until it went up. A nurse came over to teach me about breathing into a breathing testing machine. It was to be mine to take home, and I have to practice breathing several times a day. It's actually called a VOLDYNE 5000 Volumetric Exerciser. This is a good thing, because I know I don't breath deep enough, and cancer cells don't like oxygen.After I ate the first group of crackers I saw, and then asked for more and ate them, and a graham cracker, they said I could get dressed and leave as soon as someone came with a wheel chair to escort me out. They had Riley go and get the car and drive it around front. My blood pressure went up to about 99 over something. But they were finished waiting for it get higher. The wheel chair was enormous. It seemed like a sign of the times. I think two of me could have sat in there.
Me in the Pearl Bakery
All in all, I had a very nice time in the hospital. Everyone was so nice, and it was good seeing old friends, and having people pray for me. My shoulder didn't hurt at all. They probably gave me a really good pain killer. No matter, I was doing fine. Riley and I headed for the Pearl Bakery for lunch. I ate a ham and fontina sandwich, a half of an almond croissant, and a half of a gibassier, and a half a bottle of Pelegrino. And all the while we did a crossword puzzle, the jumble, and the sudoku. So as you can see, I was doing good. But I began to suspect I was coming down with a cold, and that was very disturbing. I didn't want to be sick at the start of my chemo treatments.
After lunch we went to Freddie's to get my prescriptions filled. I had one for a pain pill, and some more Adavan, because the doctor could see that it was the right "be calm" pill for me, and she knew I'd be needing it. We also bought some organic fruits and vegies. Then we went home for a while, and I don't know what we did. Except I do remember that when we got home there was a big box on the porch to Riley from his sister Valerie. It contained a copper chaffing dish, a silver coffee pot with a wooden handle, and a wooden box. It was the wooden box that really delighted Riley.
But eventually Riley really wanted to go to the pool store, because our pool had turned a bright green - not the desired color. He had a very pained look on his face, and I told him that it wasn't necessary. I don't know why he does that. We headed out. i had my stuff with me, because I never go into the pool store, it's very boring. When he was done we decided to go to IKEA for no good reason, except to go for a walk. I was still struggling with what seemed like a cold. When we got into IKEA I suggested we get Frozen Yogurt cones. I probably shouldn't have done that, but it sounded to good. We walked both levels, and I bought some great cookie cutter set that had a bear cub, a hedgehog, a moose, a whale or a snail, a wolf, and a squirrel.
On our way back, we stopped at Whole Foods to get some Echinacea for a cold and some nettles for hay fever. This is because I didn't know what I had. There's a very nice young man in their very large drug department who is always very helpful.
When we got home I was really sneezing and my nose was running, and I was starting to feel the worse for wear. Riley was looking grumpy, and he told me to sit down. I asked what he wanted for dinner and he said tuna fish, and I asked if he was just going to make dinner for himself, and we got into a bit of a tiff, which I didn't understand. He knows I'm not into eating tuna fish for dinner, so it only seemed logical that that was just for him. But somehow we worked it out that I would sit down and give him instructions (one at a time!) for making dinner. I had him boil up a dozen eggs (just because) and boil up water for pasta. Then he was to saute some vegies - onions, peppers, garlic. He also cooked up broccoli. Then when the pasta was done, he tossed it with the vegies and added shredded cheese. It was a very pleasant dinner. But that reminds me, we're out of Parmesan.
But by this time I was really having trouble with my runny nose and sneezing. We went to bed shortly after Corey came home, but I couldn't sleep with the runny nose. So I finally got up, went down stairs and ate an orange, 1/4 of a cantaloupe, and read my 150 best foods book. Then I took some more Echinacea and I don't know what else. By then my sneezing and runny nose settled down, i went back upstairs, and got into bed, laid on my back, and went to sleep.I have to admit that I am very worried about this cold/hay fever because of starting the chemo on Thursay. It is not at all good to be sick when doing chemo. My sister-in-law Lauren ended up in the hospital for 11 days from being sick.
Psalm 27:1-3
The LORD is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the defense of my life;
Whom shall I dread?
When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh,
My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell.
Though a host encamp against me,
My heart will not fear;
Though war arise against me,
In spite of this I shall be confident.
1 comment:
Boy, are you busy. Do you know how to slow down?
Post a Comment