In Shangri-la...

Again!

Yes, friends, I'm back in CHildren's-- aka, The Resort, Shan-gri-la, whatever. Thankfully there is internet access in "The lounge", which is actually quite nice--it has games, a pin ball machine, movies, a wide-screen TV, a table and a vending machine. So not too bad. Obviously it also has a computer.

I went tot he ER on Saturday--by myself, for the first time ever, since my parents were on vacation and Tiffany was out of town, so I couldn't get ahold of her. I was having pain and cramps on my right side of the abdomen. So I had a CT scan with lovely contrast (think drinking rancid Hawaiian punch--gross), X-rays of my abdomen and lungs, a ton of blood work, etc. Then my port infiltrated, which meant the needle was disloged so fluid was going intot he skin around the port, leading to excess puffiness. So we de-accessed and tried 3 times to get a peripheral IV in, which finally happed in one of the veins on the back of my left wrist (Yeah, ouch). That lasted until about Sunday PM, then we accessed the port again because the swelling had gone down.

I'm on IV morphine and I was taking IV Zofran and Phernergan (ym fav!) so Sunday I was a bit out of it. But I was pain-free, at least. And today was pretty good, except for the massive pain bout at 6:30, which led to more IV morphine. Whether or not that will continue to be ordered, I'm not sure, but I hope so, because I hate the whole "let's try tylenol and see if it works, and if not then we'll call..." Usually I do OK, but this time I had a total meltdown--sobbing in my room. I think the nurse was convinced there was pain. :)

My parents came today once they got home from vacay. My brother was here last night, made an partment run for me to get the CI charger and a few other things, and then was back today. He has done a super job, and even channeled my dad by calling the nurses' station this morning (I hate it when they do that!). I was really impressed. He also bought me a SpongeBob Squarepants beanie baby from the gift shop. :)

Right now we're on the "evening" shift, with my nurse, Jackie, staying until 11. I really like her. :) It's mostly babies on the floor, with haert issues. I think I'm the only lung tx patient. Dr. Astor is out of town but should be back tomorrow, so I"ve been seeing Dr. Kirby, one of my favorite pulmonary fellows, and my GI doc Dr. Mousssa, who was in today.

The plan for tomorrow involves more blood tests and an Uppper GI scan. Some sort of "invasive" procedure hasn't been ruled out either; endoscopy, I think? Not sure. I'm not sure how the lungs look on the X-rays. I've been coughing more, but...

I'm also NPO, which is, as usual, killing me. I am chewing ORbit with a vengenance, and I can have liquids, but Dr. Moussa doesn't want me to have any caffeine, so that leaves me with Fuze Slenderize drinks (Which don't have a lot of sugar) and Caribou Coffee drinks so that I can get down the more powdery pills that otherwise would not go down.

Whew this is a long post--sorry! :) But hopefully things will resolve themselves. My white blood count was also up a bit. Not quite sure what that means, in context.

Oh, another thing--the CI. I've been telling everyone that they can take off their masks when they come in my room (this is kosher) so I can read their lips. And the nurses come down to my room when I hit the call button, since I can't usually hear them over the intercome.

I hope tonight is better than last night--hardly slept at all.

Oh, and, of course, Read Breaking Dawn! Very good, very long, and a satisfactory ending to the series. There were several times where I just went "WHAT?!" but it was good.

Here I'm reading The Agony and the Ecstasy and keeping a record of all the Italian words so I can expand my vocab. :)