For Mother's day, the Target House hosted a spa day and dinner. My Mom got a facial, massage, & manicure. I'm glad they did this for all the stressed out mothers! It was a nice relaxing evening.
The title of this post has 3 meanings.
Meaning one-It’s been a long time since my last post. I like to keep everyone updated, but my time for a new post has been limited. Meaning two and three for “long time” will explain what I’ve been up to.
Meaning two-Long time it’s taken me to “recover” from my chemo. I completed one week of chemo, but that knocked my “counts” down too low to receive the next week. The term “counts” is a collective term for the information they look in my lab work. Each time I go for a visit or receive chemo, they do blood work beforehand. In labs, they look at my white blood cell count(WBC) and my resistance to infection(ANC). White blood cells are cells of the immune system that help fight off infection. The chemo drives my WBC and ANC down. However, if your WBC gets below a certain level, you can’t have any chemo because it could be dangerous or suppress your bone marrow too much. Well, that is where I’m at…my WBC/ANC are too low for any chemo. So, for the last 2 weeks, I’ve been waiting for my counts to come up.
Meaning three-Long days spent doing appointments at the hospital. So, just waiting for my counts to recover sounds like an easy job? Well, I still have daily appointment to check labs, meet with my Dr. and other random appointments. It’s IMPOSSIBLE to leave the hospital in less than 5 hours. Let me give you a recap of each day to prove my point:
Friday, May 1st Schedule- 8:15-8:30 labs 9:30-10:30 Leukemia check up
*Finished labs early, the waiting room for my checkup was empty..ohh good, quick day! Never find yourself saying that, it back fires! We waited and waited to find out they lost my labs. By the time they found my labs, my Dr. had a meeting and my appt with him was bumped another hour. I looked the same, felt fine, can’t they just tell me if my counts are good or not and let me go? Anyway, the day ended with the magic number of 5 hrs in the hospital!
Monday May 4th Schedule 8:00 labs 9:00 Leukemia
*Again…sweet short day! Nooo! At 8:30 the social worker finds us and wants to update my file. Stink…there goes my short day. In addition, I found out I needed a platelet transfusion…ohh joy, now my hopes of a short day are defiantly shattered. The day ended with a total of 5 ½ hrs
Tuesday- I didn’t have anything major on my hospital schedule. I did have to go in to get hooked up to fluids that I carry around in a bag for 24 hours. But, Wednesday will be completely off!! I’ll get so much done! I picked up my schedule for Thursday before leaving, and they hand me 4 pages. It has appts back to back starting on Wed and finishing on Fri. WHAT IS GOING ON?
For transplant, I have to do every test possible to make sure I’m cleared for transplant, and to help identify any changes after transplant. Wednesday I spent a total of 10 ½ hrs in the hospital going to the dentist, x ray, MRI, CT, physical therapy, eye doc, lab work galore, pulmonary functions, etc. To top that tiring day off, I got 2 units of blood. Thursday and Friday were packed with appts., but ended up being around 5-6 hrs days. So, I’ve spent over 22 hrs in the hospital these past 3 days!
So, people ask what I do all day? All this stuff (with Wed-Fri being exceptionally bad). By the time I go to the hospital, spend all morning and part of the afternnon there, I'm ready to rest/nap. After that, my days half gone. I’m trying to make a push to finish my last class from last semester, but with long exhausting days, it makes it hard. So, my life sounds pretty dull right now, although it sure keeps me busy. Oddly enough, I never seem to get too bored (though sitting in the wait room for hours drives me batty)!
Meaning one-It’s been a long time since my last post. I like to keep everyone updated, but my time for a new post has been limited. Meaning two and three for “long time” will explain what I’ve been up to.
Meaning two-Long time it’s taken me to “recover” from my chemo. I completed one week of chemo, but that knocked my “counts” down too low to receive the next week. The term “counts” is a collective term for the information they look in my lab work. Each time I go for a visit or receive chemo, they do blood work beforehand. In labs, they look at my white blood cell count(WBC) and my resistance to infection(ANC). White blood cells are cells of the immune system that help fight off infection. The chemo drives my WBC and ANC down. However, if your WBC gets below a certain level, you can’t have any chemo because it could be dangerous or suppress your bone marrow too much. Well, that is where I’m at…my WBC/ANC are too low for any chemo. So, for the last 2 weeks, I’ve been waiting for my counts to come up.
Meaning three-Long days spent doing appointments at the hospital. So, just waiting for my counts to recover sounds like an easy job? Well, I still have daily appointment to check labs, meet with my Dr. and other random appointments. It’s IMPOSSIBLE to leave the hospital in less than 5 hours. Let me give you a recap of each day to prove my point:
Friday, May 1st Schedule- 8:15-8:30 labs 9:30-10:30 Leukemia check up
*Finished labs early, the waiting room for my checkup was empty..ohh good, quick day! Never find yourself saying that, it back fires! We waited and waited to find out they lost my labs. By the time they found my labs, my Dr. had a meeting and my appt with him was bumped another hour. I looked the same, felt fine, can’t they just tell me if my counts are good or not and let me go? Anyway, the day ended with the magic number of 5 hrs in the hospital!
Monday May 4th Schedule 8:00 labs 9:00 Leukemia
*Again…sweet short day! Nooo! At 8:30 the social worker finds us and wants to update my file. Stink…there goes my short day. In addition, I found out I needed a platelet transfusion…ohh joy, now my hopes of a short day are defiantly shattered. The day ended with a total of 5 ½ hrs
Tuesday- I didn’t have anything major on my hospital schedule. I did have to go in to get hooked up to fluids that I carry around in a bag for 24 hours. But, Wednesday will be completely off!! I’ll get so much done! I picked up my schedule for Thursday before leaving, and they hand me 4 pages. It has appts back to back starting on Wed and finishing on Fri. WHAT IS GOING ON?
For transplant, I have to do every test possible to make sure I’m cleared for transplant, and to help identify any changes after transplant. Wednesday I spent a total of 10 ½ hrs in the hospital going to the dentist, x ray, MRI, CT, physical therapy, eye doc, lab work galore, pulmonary functions, etc. To top that tiring day off, I got 2 units of blood. Thursday and Friday were packed with appts., but ended up being around 5-6 hrs days. So, I’ve spent over 22 hrs in the hospital these past 3 days!
So, people ask what I do all day? All this stuff (with Wed-Fri being exceptionally bad). By the time I go to the hospital, spend all morning and part of the afternnon there, I'm ready to rest/nap. After that, my days half gone. I’m trying to make a push to finish my last class from last semester, but with long exhausting days, it makes it hard. So, my life sounds pretty dull right now, although it sure keeps me busy. Oddly enough, I never seem to get too bored (though sitting in the wait room for hours drives me batty)!
9 comments:
Zach here. Thanks for the info, it sounds like you deserve a daily nap after what you go through each day. I couldn't imagine trying to study for class after such long days in the hospital. Nice bag by the way, it fits you just right ;), I think that I've seen that design somewhere, hmmmmmm..... We love you and look forward to being close. You need anything, give us a shout. OK?
Hi Lindsey,
Just letting you know I was checking up on you this morning on your blog. I'm glad you and your mom had a good mother's day! Spa Fun! Love, Dawn
Oh, Lindsey...life is so hard for you right now. What else can I say but keep up the faith. We're thinking of you.
Melissa Bryant
What busy days! Gosh, when this is all over and behind you, imagine what fun you'll have filling your days with all the stuff you want to do and enjoy doing. (Love the cute bag in the first pic. Melanie makes them, you model them. QVC might come calling...)
Yikes!! Long days in the hospital are never fun. I'm glad to hear an update from you! It's always good to know what's going on. I LOVE your bag. It's super adorable. I read Zach and Melonie's post and wondered, are you taking home study classes while you are away? You're super woman if you are!
Reading your post made me tired. You're my little storm trooper (even though you are talker than me you're still me little sis). What can we say, st jude loves you and has to keep an eye on their patient with the blue eye and sweet smile that keeps them on their toes.
I would like to be the first person to sign the petition that MD Pui is not allowed to go out of town.
1) Melissa Hodgen
I'll sign up on that petition!
1)Melissa Hodgen
2)Melanie Pitcher
Hi, Lindsey & Susan : First of all Susan you look beautiful in those pictures that Lindsey posted-Lindsey you always look gorgeous but Susan you're looking good too. Your days are busy ,busy.Trey,Paige & Brooklyn are arriving this week-end & then Trey starts an internship in Washington ,D.C. on May 28. Logan & I should be heading your way in June & we will be definitely seeing you guys.Love you, Judy Friday
I'm praying for you . Hope you feeling better soon .
Love Kayla
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