Day Three - Sunday

I spent a lot of Sunday recovering from Saturday night and the lack of sleep. 

The PICC

I got my PICC line today. It's all a little weird to think about, but it works great. Up to now I had an IV in my left arm and another in my right hand (which failed Saturday night--they had to take it out).  The PICC is the lower-tech alternative to the Port.

My room quickly looked like a surgery as a couple of IV nurses spread out their gear sanitized everything and donned their masks, head covers and gowns. They scrubbed up the inside of my right arm, gave me some local anesthesia, and ran a picc line into the center of my chest.

Now that probably sounds a little weird--and it is--but it feel like nothing. And after all of the lab cultures (including the lady who kept accidentally pulling the needle out after getting the blood) and IVs, not having to be poked in the arm is most welcome.

So now all of my IVs run through my picc line, and even when they need to draw blood for most labs, they can do it right through there. It's yet another amazing medical thing on this journey.

Visits

Jen visited - she visits once or twice every day, and we're fortunate that we live so close to the hospital. She can ride her bike up--which saves on the parking fees -- and it actually takes about the same amount of time since she doesn't need to hunt the garage for a parking space. Yet another reason our neighborhood is so wonderful (proximity to the hospital) and why everyone should want to live her. But if you know me I espouse our neighborhood's benefits every chance I get :)

My dad visited with her in the afternoon. By the time he came though I was not feeling great. Pretty much exhausted and they did not stay long. Still, it was great to see him.

MonsterQuest

My day was spent dozing in and out of consciousness watching a Monsterquest marathon on the History channel. So I spent the day with the Sasquatch, his Chinese cousin (Yermin?), the Chuppacabra, the little men of Indonesia, giant Camel spiders, and other mythical? things. BTW, the Chuppacabra one was really interesting. Some Texans had shot a couple of canines with extra long teeth and skin like elephants--so there was actually something going on--perhaps a disease? Anyway--I fell asleep before I found out so if anyone watches it clue me in :)

Eating and its Inverse

I ate a little something for breakfast, like cereal maybe, but by lunch I felt poorly. I tried a little cherry jello at some point in the afternoon and just threw it up. 

The Drip

I think I spent the evening zoning in and out. It was not a good night, but at least, for the first time in days, I slept with minimal interruptions. Mostly just the vital checks every four hours, I think another bag of platelets, and my every 8 hours double-bag of  plasma.

All of this and other things like antibiotics and nausea medicine, are delivered through IVs. These are mostly delivered with pumps to control the flow. You form a love hate machine with your pumps. They are after all your-life line, but they do like to beep and let you know when things aren't right--which is good--but often wakes you up.

And that--as best as I can recall at the moment -- was Sunday.