Another Milestone and New Appreciation

Well, it's official. The infusion as of right now for my chemotherapy is done! 2 days of high chemotheraphy and now 2 days of rest to clear all of the chemo out of my system and then I get my transplant. Other than retaining ALOT of fluid and my kidneys are taking a hit, things have gone really well. The secret....the gift basket. I believe that was inspiration to help me through these early tense days.

I have had sooo much fun delivering gift to patients and getting to know families. I have had enough donated that all of the caregivers are receiving one too. It's hard to tell who is most touched by the gifts, the patients or the nurses, CNA's . I had a housekeeper in tears after visiting with me. I seem to do that a bit lately. I don't mean to. She told me she wished that her English was better because she had something to tell me and was afraid how bad her English was. I told her she was doing great and then asked her if she wanted to hear the Spanish I knew. She lite up. I then proudly said, Olah..which caused her to laugh and then I said manyana. I don't even know how to spell it. She smiled at that but didn't laugh. I think she felt better about her English. She then went on to say in her broken English, and tears in her eyes, how she could tell I was special and that it was almost like talking to an Angel. That gave me tears. I shared with her a poem on a card that was shared with me earlier in the week by my Aunt who is the caregiver. It was given to her by her big sister a few years when she was trying to learn Swedish to serve a LDS mission in the Sweden Temple. She was over 60 at the time and felt that she was too old to learn another language. She had also been asked to be Temple matron because the Temple president's wife had fallen to bad health. It ended up that they learned some of 4 different languages and did very well. Here is the poem on the card.
I believe in angels.....that they're always hovering near, Whispering encouragement when ever
clouds appear, Protecting us from danger and showing us the way, Performing little miracles within our lives each day...Yes, I believe in angels, and I'm sure that you do too; And I'm convinced that angels are watching over you. In my book you are all my angels blessing my life in so many ways, often you don't even realize it.

The housekeeper was so touched by being told "Thank you" She said, but this is my job. I told her I just wanted her to know how much I appreciated having a clean bathroom and room and that her job was very important and that I appreciated her. Then when I gave her a donated gift from one of you...this is when the tears had all began.

It was one of those times that you meet an incredibly nice person who just needed to feel appreciated. Thanks again to all of you who donated items. You are touching so many lives and I get to have all of the fun!!!!!!!!!

Now for my medical friends reading this. I had a very interesting experience. I have had good nurses and CNA's. I have found out that the float pool down here means....you float in any of a number of hospitals and can float in any department in several hospitals. We all know that the newer employees to a system are in the float pool. Well..............................................................
I have a definite opinion on how this float pool works. My nurse and CNA and housekeeper were all floats today. the CNA is the only one who had ever floated to an Oncology unit. Do bells ring yet? I had a fairly new, extremely nice, very competent nurse taking care of me..He just had never stepped on this unit and new nothing about cancer. He asked me if I knew about my medications. I told him yes, but that I thought he should read about them..Boy was that an Educators moment? Bells again. Well, my day had progressed fairly well but about a quarter to 5 I finally quit being patient and became a nurse/patient. I asked if I Lovenox was still on my med list. I had received it yesterday MORNING and I hadn't received it yet today. We were about 8 hours late. Well, he went to my bedside computer and sure enough there it was..Hmmm he said, I wonder how I missed that? Than I asked him if I was going to receive my Zofran prior to chemo like I did yesterday. He said, oh your Zofran 4 mg. I said Nope, it's my ...get this...24mg of Zofran. I questioned the dose yesterday and the nurse had informed me they don't mess around with anti-emetics around here. They hit it hard to prevent any nausea. I appreciated that fact. So I asked my nurse today to please double check what was given yesterday.
Well, the time came and went when the Melphalan was to be given. He acted really nervous, kept referring to the computer. I finally got the definite feeling "he isn't chemo certified and he is going to hang my chemo." My anxiety sky rocketed. I asked to speak to the charge nurse to just quietly express my concerns and ask them to hang it. The charge nurse was busy. So I got up my courage and told my nurse that I would appreciate someone who had hung this med and chemo hung mine today. The response was "oh it's just another bag". I said, No it's toxic and it's going into me. I want someone who has done this before. You have been great but this is how I stand on the matter. Now this is coming from a Nurse Educator who in her heart has wanted to give every person I have me a chance to learn and grown positively. I felt Horrible!!!! but I knew it was right and he was wrong to even consider doing it without being certified. Why was he assigned to me alone for this task? He as ok with it, probably a little embarrassed but I think he was relieved. What I was surprised about was he didn't even come in to observe. The who hung it stated, well this will be complete in......wow, just when it would have expired. Interesting experience. I pass it along for the reason of reminding any of us in the medical profession. If we are EVER put in the position of being asked to do something outside our realm of knowledge or job description, never ever hesitate to ask someone for help. The patient will put up on your insecurity and it's not a good feeling. Also, if you are a patient and EVER see errors happening, we have to stand up for ourselves. No one else will. Education is so vital. I can see how mistakes can happen and I personally think the whole float to any hospital to any department is a bit out of control. They need to have the skills and knowledge to keep patients safe not just decrease budget or help with staffing coverage. Now, I'm off the soap box.

That past 2 days have been amazing. Except for the brief anxiety time I mentioned I have been so calm, felt so good. My face looks like a chipmunk. My girth is huge!!! my thighs, calves ankles and feet have never seen the dimensions they are now. The skin is so tight that my small veins are complaining as well as the more moderate veins which probably in another 10 years of working would have complained but they hopped on the whiney wagon too. None of these new additions are very complimentary...and my poor little kidneys are being worked harder than they can keep up. They are having to given me increased fluids and then Lasix (side note, I just realized I haven't had my Lasix tonight. they are suppose to give it right after chemo. Looks like I will be sleeping with one eye open tonight).....but I have still done amazing. I have mentioned to a couple of people that I surely wanted it passed along that your prayers for specifically my heart, kidneys and bones are working. Miracle of the week.....No excruciating back pain!!!!...only some upon certain movements but not very much. I have ability to do some motions that I haven't done for months...like put my own socks on!! Little thing but huge to me. All I can say is I'm still asking for favors after you all have done so much....please continue to pray for me. I have had a sweet, wonderful peace that only Heavenly Father can give and I KNOW that it is answer to you good, kind, righteous people of all faiths. You are my friends in my heart forever and I do note every small kindness extended to me. I continually learn how to be a better person and how to genuinely serve...not in the big things, but the little things. You are amazing. Thanks for following my journey. Just found out a few days ago that I can see stats for my blog. Boy am I good at this..Some of you are chuckling now, be nice.
Anyway, I have had around 1700 hits to my blog in the past month. I have people from all over North America from sea to shining sea, and even Alaska. I have someone in Germany, Ukraine, and I can't remember where else; there was 5 countries outside of US. I know who are in some but I can't identify all. Would you be willing to email me at danielsonl2comcast.net or please try to comment on blog and let us all know where you hail from. I know but it's fun to share. I think I have fixed the comment problem but if it doesn't work, email me please. My love to you tonight as I met another milestone. So far so good!