Nasty Ole Blood Clots

Thursday, May 24, 2012, I am home after four days in the hospital again.  Sunday evening I was having respiratory problems. I knew that I was having chest pain and trouble breathing, but I had no idea why. I called 9-1-1 and told them that I was having chest pains and trouble breathing. I was then taken by ambulance to Baystate Medical Center.  While in the Emergency Department they did a contrasted CT Scan of my lungs. It turned out that both lungs were covered with a thin layer of blood clots. This is a side effect of cancer and its chemo-therapy.  Of course, this meant that I would be admitted. I was sent to ICU. So here was another first, I had never been in ICU before or is it has an adult? They were not use to having a patient that not only could but was awake enough to talk to them.  The people there, in ICU, where just wonderful to me, what a great team of people they are to work with.

On Monday evening they decided that I was no longer sick enough to stay in the ICU any longer. This started a downward spiral emotionally for me. I was terrified of being put in any other section of the hospital. I didn’t want to be anywhere near that Dr. Philip Huh, that had discharged me so incorrectly in the past. It turned out that on the Monday evening shift I was assigned to the night nurse manager. Well, when she started talking to me about transferring me out of ICU I actually started crying. She naturally wanted to know why I was so upset. So I told her my complete tale of woe. After hearing the entire story and asking a few questions to be sure she understood what had happened to me, she assured me that I would not be seen by that doctor in that hospital ever again. Mary, the nurse, started by writing a paper note saying that he was never to treat me and taping that to the outside of the paper file. Then she wrote the same note on the paperwork inside the file. Finally she brought the computer into my room and after writing a note to go into the electronically keep records, she read me what she had wrote and asked if she had summed the situation up correctly. I told her yes and she then saved it into the electronic file. With all this done I thought that I felt a great deal better.

Tuesday, I found that things weren’t going quit as smoothly as I thought they were. The first part really started on Monday evening they had a great deal of trouble understanding just how much pain medication I am supposed to get every 8 hours. They also failed to use any sense about when to give me medication to PREVENT vomiting. They thought it would work after I had already started vomiting? I don’t understand their thinking, but they now know how I think it should be done, at least for ME!!!

Then I realized it was the 11^th anniversary of my Dad’s death! Pow, knock my feet right out from under me. Emotionally I hit rock bottom, and just has I did that the hospital care coordinator stopped by. That poor young lady got a lot dropped in her lap, but took care of all it as much as she could. I told her my tale of woe with Dr. Huh and she has referred the matter to the person in charge of hospital and quest relations. She told me it could take 3 or 4 days before I hear from that person, but that is okay with me. When she saw the emotional state of mind I was in she offered physc help, of which I said yes PLEASE. We then talked about the medication misunderstanding and she had that straighten out in a very few minutes. Just after supper a man from the physc unit stopped by to see me. Although he could not solve my problems it did me a great deal of good to talk to him. One of the things that was happening was I was having nightmares. I even had one of my hospital roommate dying, and 86 year old lady whose name I didn’t even know.

When I had called Mom to update her about my care I found that she was in just as a blue mood as was in. That is really spooky. But of course, Dad was her hubby for over 53 years so it makes sense.

The great thing that happened on Tuesday is that my Dr. J. Hu stopped by and she is certain that the mass on my neck is almost shrunk by half of its size and it is softer also. So the chemo is working!!! I am so thankful and excited by this news. To me it makes more sense to continue with the chemo treatment I was able to figure out that the treatment was not the cause of my blue mood. I feel it is a lot of things coming together.

So just maybe I can really get the right help. I think what I am going through is a complex set of issues. I think my Mom is going through the same issues, just from a different; view point. Several professionals asked me if I thought it would do any good talking about them. I think it will do me some good. I figure between the teaching of the Lord, within the scriptures, and whatever they teach me I should find some final common ground and get some help. I have had counseling in the past and I usually find it very helpful. So I will pray about the man I am being referred to and what the Church teaches, us as long as the two things are not worlds apart I will be just fine. Besides I don’t have to stick with the person Stephen suggested. I need one with similar ideas has the Church then I will check him out.

The next day the nightmares where gone. And all of us agreed that I was ready to go home.

It is now Sunday, May 27^th and I have been home since Thursday afternoon. I came home needing to use oxygen and give myself a daily shot of lovenox, a blood thinner, until I follow up with my primary care doctor sometime next week. I was taught how to give myself the shot while in the hospital and I am having no problem with it. I am also not having any problem with the oxygen. I can be either in the living room, (first floor), or in my bedroom, (the second floor), without a problem. I can actually be off oxygen long enough to walk down stairs. Setting up the oxygen so that I could do this took a little work but between, my son, Frank, and the technician from VNA they had it set up in no time.

Hopefully my next post will be a short one with little to tell. Until then I hope you are all doing well thanks for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers.