Day After

The day after blood transfusion brings renewed energy. My lungs still feel like toast but now that my hearts not racing and I'm not constantly out of breath I'll work with the "Airlife" apparatus to work on lung strength and get rid of the constant feeling that I have to cough.

The blood transfusion went well but it was a full day event. They wanted me to come in as quickly as possible when I got the call. I was ushered in to the back spaces of the oncology clinic where they give chemo. It's a huge block of little individual cubbies with recliners, guest chairs, little tv sets, curtains for privacy, and lot's of light. It was also warmer than the front clinic space but I still think I'll bring my super soft blue blanket from sister Linda to keep me warm during chemo treatment. Wish I'd had it with me yesterday. It took 1.5 hrs for them to match my blood at the blood bank after taking a sample. They used the portacath-from-hell for the first time. Access seemed very easy and after tapping into it and taping access down so it wouldn't shift was quite comfortable. Mom dropped me off, I called Linda for pick-up thinking it would be pretty quick once blood matched but no. Each bag of blood takes 2 hrs to transfuse to 4 hrs total after the 1.5 hr wait. Linda came and kept me company for a while (w/cups of hot choc from Starbucks, yum.) She contacted Mom when leaving, I fell asleep when switch to bag-o'blood-2 and woke up to have Mom sitting nearby reading. Pretty groggy and tired last night but woke up this AM feeling good.

James continues to be stressed by my treatment to date on a number of levels but is trying to hold it together. This weekend he's at Mom's house to finish the paint job for Seattle sister Lisa's visit on Tuesday. Best for him to keep busy I think, then he'll come home to cater to me. Hopefully I'll be able to give a bit back soon...

Sander's cousin Nick is taking him to the Lego Robotics Tournament today. I'm sorry that I'm missing it but didn't want to push myself. We got him up and out of the house at 7 AM. 10 AM now and pre-teen Phoebe is still sound asleep upstairs. I'll be waking her up soon to dig in to a huge school project that we'd lost track of with my many health crisis'. I explained to the teacher how my health issues have disrupted our lives a bit and she was happy to extend the deadline for Phoebe.

Nothing else on my plate (other than getting my lungs up to speed) until a Nuclear Medicine Heart Test on Tues in prep for Chemo the following week. Wish me luck, breathe deep, and enjoy the day. Beth