Saturday, May 10, 2008

"Arriving" in Port.........

Today is Thursday May 1st. Last night Linz offered to take me to the hospital early this morning to give Mom and Kate a break from having an "early" day. So the alarm went off at 5:30 am although we didn't need to be at the hospital till 7:00 am. I need that little extra time in the morning to get that heating pad on my back before I can move! I usually would sip on a cup of coffee at this point, but it was "nothing to eat or drink after midnight" routine, so I had to postpone my cup of Java until after surgery. We went up to Outpatient Surgery and did the usual "check in". They took me back to the pre-op room and Lindsay was allowed to go with me. I answered the bajillion questions from the nurse, anesthesia and surgeon and they went over the procedure and what to expect afterwards. The procedure I'm talking about is the placement of a Central Line in my right chest to that it can be used for aphereisis, blood draws, chemo and any other fluid or replacements I may need for the next month. It beats being bruised to death from constant needles going in and out and risking blowing out your veins at a critical time. I was then taken back to the surgery area....wow are those lights bright!! They need to pass out sunglasses! The surgeon then asked me what kind of music I wanted to hear while they were placing the line and of course I said "Classic Rock" and his response? "Will you marry me? Your my kinda girl." I thought about it......he was kinda cute :) That's all I remember folks......as my "bartender" (their words not mine LOL) administered my cocktail and I was OUT. Didn't even hear one chord of Lynrd Skynrd!! Next thing I know I'm in recovery, waking up to Lindsay video taping me passed out! The rest of the day was spent meeting with the nurse to check on and explain my line care, meeting with the dietitian and a meeting with the pharmacist who added a bunch more meds to my current regime. There are anti-virals, anti-fungals, anti-bacterials and any other "anti" you can think of. I was also told I'll be on Acyclovir (remember the miracle drug for my shingles?) for ONE YEAR after the transplant as the herpes virus is the easiest of all to contract. We also saw the PA for a brief meeting and I received my first Neupogen shot before going back to the hotel.

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