Calm Before The Storm

Things were very calm the week of the ultrasound, maybe giving me a chance to take in all the information and things that had happened up to that point.  The next week would go from the calm to the storm.  On that Tuesday I had an appt with Dr. H - and I would get an explanation of the side effects of the chemo and what the pump would look like that I would have.  On Wednesday I would get a call to say that the surgery for my port would be on that Friday - and that I would have an exam in preparation of the surgery that afternoon!  My first thought when I got the call was that John had to work that Friday, so maybe I should try to reschedule.  I told them that I would see if my daughter would be able to take me and drive me home, if not, then I would have to reschedule. I saw the PA that afternoon.  Then on Thursday I had an appt with Dr. Z - and I would get an explanation of the side effects of the radiation treatments and what the plan was.  Friday morning Carrie & I were at the hospital bright and early to get my "vascular access device" or port put in.  When they had to try two times to get the iv into a vein, I was already thinking that maybe this port was going to be a great idea.  Things went well and I was in recovery getting ready for them to send us home when all of a sudden I felt something running down my chest - I looked under the gown and it was blood running down my tummy.  The nurses grabbed some washcloths and cleaned me up as best they could.  Carrie said she was glad that had happened before we left - instead of after we got home!  We were home, including the stop at the pharmacy on the way home by about 11:30 or so.  I started taking my pain pills right away, and things were going along just fine - until I started throwing up at about 11:00 p.m.  I got sick again three times on Saturday - so Carrie called the answering service for the surgeon to see what they thought.  Unfortunately the surgeon that had put it in was not on call - so we got a call back from the other surgeon - and he thought it might be best to go to the ER to have it checked out.  So off to the ER went John, Carrie & I.  By that time we were pretty sure that it was the pain meds that were making me sick, because the vomiting had stopped when I stopped taking them.  This might have been the shortest ER trip in history.  I told them what had happened - and if I could take some tylenol for the pain.  I also had quite a nasty irritation from the tape that they had used to cover the port up after the surgery, so the ER Dr. had suggested we pick up some Benadryl to help with the itching from that.  I had found after my hysterectomy surgery that I have a sensitivity (not sure that it is an allergic reaction) to tape - including paper tape, which is supposed to be the least sensitive.  The rest of the weekend was spent vegging.