It's so good to be on THIS side of the ground!

Update to the CAT scan I had done.  I was called by the Cardiologist to go to George Washington Hospital Center's cardio unit for an echocardiogram.  What they saw must have been pretty bad because I was told that they would have to do immediate surgery that night, or the chances of me being alive in the next two days were not good.

So, after the shock wore off, Chris and I head are taken back to the ER where I'm stripped and connected to a bunch of wires. I feel so bad for my husband, i've put him through so much and I know he's scared. This is my heart... only got one of those and it's in bad shape evidently.

At 8pm I'm taken to the OR where they put me on a smaller table and strap my arms down. They are doing an arterial IV line and after the 4th time of trying to get this thing in my vein, i'm starting to cry. it freaking hurts despite the 'numbing' stuff they inject.  Finally they give me the gas to go to sleep and I suppose that's when they find a good vein. All told, I have 9 holes where they tried to find a vein. 

I wake up to "Juanita..wake up, can you hear me" and I remember dreaming about camping because the 'wake up' part coincided with me and Chris coming out the tent door.  Nice huh? Even under surgery I dream of camping.

I get rolled to ICU (and share it with another lady) and I can barely move. hell, i don't even have the strength to lift my head, so whatever they knocked me out with is pretty damn potent.  The nurse tells me that surgery was great, they pulled 700cc's of fluid (a liter) and that I have two tubes in my chest to help drain off the rest. I'm also on morphine that I can have every 8 minutes, and no limit.  Chris talks the nurse into letting him stay, even though he wasn't supposed to be there because it wasn't a private room... i can't say how glad i was that he did. I was scared and having him there was comforting.  My neighbor was a very old lady who must have had some hip or back work done because she constantly called for the nurse for more pain meds. She didn't get them but she did ask.  poor lady.

I stay in  ICU until sometime Saturday and then am moved to the cardio unit (and a private room).  I feel so bad for hubby that i talk him into going home to sleep in a real bed. I know he's exhausted and I have plenty of people around checking on me every 30 minutes or so, i'll be okay till him comes back. 

By Tuesday i'm getting aggravated and tired, because every time I'd try to go to sleep, someone was coming in to take my blood, or check my pressure, or my temperature, and finally to remove the pee bag. then start hounding me on pooping. 

There is an old lady who is giving everyone fits. The first night in Cardio care, she's in the hallway right outside my door giving the nursing staff hell because she's hungry and she wants more food. Then she wanders around kinda lost like and gives them hell because she can't find her room. Or she wants coffee, or she doesn't want to do physical therapy. And she'll scream stuff like HELP ME, NURSE.. HELP ME.. SOMEONE HELP ME.. omg it was nerve wracking.  One of the nights my neighbor coded and I hear, "what?.. what are ya'll doing here?" and my nurse says, "your heart stopped" and the lady laughs and said, I was just sleeping"  me thinks her heart may have stopped for a second, but it was good to know that the cardio team really jumps into action with a code blue.

My favorite nurse was a guy named Kofi.  He was funny, kind, and nice to my husband. He didn't mind that Chris wanted to help, and seemed to welcome it. Poor guy actually had to give me a suppository to help me poop. THAT was a major humiliation, but after all the morphine, toradol, and various other pain meds, I was one blocked up chick. It worked though.

Wednesday morning they hinted that I may get to go home that day, if my wounds looked good after taking out the tubes, and if I kept my blood pressure down. they had a heck of a time getting it below 100. usually it was in the 130's and as high as 147, RESTING. So tuesday was a good day because it was actually 100 all day long and meant i was one step closer to going home.

and that happened on Wednesday. yay!!  OH before i forget, taking out the drain tubes was not that bad. I expected a lot of pain because they went in through the bottom rib muscle, but no pain at all.

anyway, that was my exciting, almost meeting my maker moment and i wish to not repeat it anytime soon.   I talked to the doctor today wanted to know when I could go back to work and as much as I tried to make it next week, it's not until July 1. And even then, they didn't want a full day, but I told them i didn't do any lifting, just a desk job, and he was okay with letting me go full time.

so, my adventure still continues with trying to find a chemo to kill the CML, but because of what this last drug did to my heart, we're in no hurry to start another pill...  i want to enjoy my days on earth upright. not laying in ICU or any place else in the hospital.

the job is a damn fine group of people. I had only been working there 8 days when this happened, and now have had to take nearly 3 weeks off in the hospital and recovery. They told me to take as much time necessary, they miss me and want me well. Hell, i was with NOAA 5 years and not once did they send a get well card or flowers... this place did.  I have found my work home. They are great people.

tired and going night night. as i remember stuff, i'll write. things are a bit foggy from my stay but coming back in pieces

and prayers do work.... i had a lot of people praying for me.. and here I am. Thank you God.

and thank YOU darling hubby for being there for me every single step of the way. I lovve you.

So i've had a new complication to the Tasigna i was taking.

After getting rid of the pancreatitis, and everything went to normal size, i discovered I was having a difficult time breathing. I couldn't walk a few paces without having to stop for air. Walking up 4 steps had me gasping, and doing 15 minutes of light weight strolling had me clutching my chest and trying to breath. So, a CAT scan was ordered.

The results. i have fluid buildup around my heart. The official name is Pericardial effusion. A complication from taking certain chemos. nice ey?

The pericardium can hold only a limited amount of excess fluid without causing problems. The inner layer of the pericardium is made of a single layer of cells that sticks to the heart. The outer layer is thicker and only somewhat elastic. When too much liquid accumulates, the pericardium expands inward, toward the heart.
When pericardial effusion puts pressure on the heart, the pumping chambers of the heart fail to fill completely, and one or more chambers may partially collapse. This condition, called tamponade (tam-puh-NAYD), causes poor blood circulation and an inadequate supply of oxygen to the body. Tamponade is a life-threatening condition if left untreated.

so, we're not going to leave it untreated, because once my doctor got the results, he called me. Then he evidently called a cardiologist buddy of his, and HE called me to come in immediately (next two days). I guess they're not wanting to play, and i'm happy about that.

There was a 1 percent chance that I would get the Periocardial effusion. ONE percent. Why couldn't that ONE PERCENT have been hitting the 600 million dollar lottery?  no fair.   anyway, life goes on, This crap ain't gotta beat me,. it might make me tired as hell, might even hospitalize me for a few days, but I won't be brought down by a messed up ticker.

stomps foot. there!!

and they fooled me at the CAT scan place. i was assured that I wouldn't have to take the barrium stuff.. the stuff that they say tastes like lemons, but REALLY tastes like thick chalk with a hint of nothing. I said, dude.. i was only to get the IV. she says, 'no, you get this AND THE IV.  then I tried the, "i had the bypass.. i can't drink this whole bottle', to which atilla the hun says, "you will drink it all or sit there until you do.". it was down the hatch in 15 minutes. gross.

and don't be fooled, there is NO lemon flavor in that shit.

Welcome to my new job.

This building, if you start in one corner and walk all the way up, turn right, walk down, make a right and end up where you started, is a half mile walk. And I've gotten lost a lot this week. Today was a good day because I found the cafeteria. and it's like it's own little world down there. I had to get something to eat because i forgot a soup and was starving!

more later.... i actually  have work to do

LOL oh, and I need to not check into FAcebook as much, which I already know I shouldn't do, but curiosity kills me. So, I'll be legitimately working from here on out. Unless I'm blogging. :)

sigh

Photos coming soon on vacation. It was a great time, too short, loads of fun and NO RAIN.  and I can't wait to write about trying to pop a tent on the beach. Windy is an understatement.

Will write more later.  Need to close up shop and figure out just where I am in this maze of a building so I can book it to the bus stop.
glad it stopped raining!

Day 1.. leaving :)

 

first home. Assateaque Island. Yeah. Right on the beach!  except, if you look closely, you'll notice that the two tents in the background have totally collapsed.  Why? Because it was WINDY!!!  We tried to get our tent to stay in one spot, but the tent had other ideas.. so... we went to FrontierTown for those two days and paid visits to the island

 Before leaving, we had to let Fred go (the turtle) so why waste a perfectly good fishing day?

 Frontier Town pier.

Assateaque Island horsies

Beach time!

Home for a couple days.