Is it only Tuesday night?

Can you tell I'm rather bored blogging so much? But it keeps my mind occupied and me from napping so I will sleep tonight. I'm still on IV's but not so much so I should be up every half hour in the bathroom. The doctor that came in this morning told me to continue to re hydrate but the water I drink won't make a lot of difference so I'm not pushing it.

I think I did 6 laps today, each time I thought it would be the last but then would rest and go again later. I can feel it in my calves but no pain, no gain and I find I don't have to concentrate so much. I did a half lap with the PT and she asked me if I thought a brace would help my right lower leg, I didn't know so we left it like that. I think I have just lost so much strength, it will take time to get it back. I've been very sedentary for awhile, it caught up to me and now I have to be determined to work at getting it back. At home I will have to just walk the house and up and down stairs and make the best of it. She had me do exercises that were rather hard and I asked her how often and she said "Oh, once a day." Well that doesn't seem like much! But she is the doc!

Food is a challenge, I'm hungry but not much tastes good, I try and try and for Bruce everything tastes good. I finally had my fill of Boost or Ensure, it's just too thick and cloying but they have Carnation Instant Breakfast and that goes down well.

I got my catheter out, I envisioned having to go to outpatient but about 2 PM in walks a doctor with a bunch of stuff, shot me up with lidocaine and before it had a chance to work, ripped the little sucker out, OUCH!!! Bruce stood right there and watched him! The nurse was not too happy, she would have liked to had a heads up and given me something ahead of time but around here, sometimes they waste no time and are off and running to the next patient. I should have had a number to call and warn them he was coming. Luckily it hadn't been in that long that the skin was grown around it, Bruce said the tubing was about 10 inches long. It is a relief to have it gone and it is an infection hazard that has to be flushed everyday so better to be gone. The nurses had a pro-con discussion about leaving it in. One said they would need it to return the stem cells but I asked the Dr. this morning and he said as long as I had a port, they can use it, that is what is running my IV right now. The port is nice because once it it de-accessed, I can shower without covering anything.

I had my first shower in about 10 days today having to settle for my Mom's 'spit bathes' as she called them. The shower was poorly thought out here, it's in the corner of the bathroom, hand held but no barrier for the water. So they take the dirty sheets from your bed and make a moat so as not to flood the bathroom or room. There is a seat, they bring about a dozen towels, not big Turkish bath towels but there is strength in numbers and about 2 dozen hand clothes. First you wash with a soap and hand cloth then use a new cloth with 2 pumps of antibiotic wash each to keep the skin as clean as possible, more importantly with the catheter. Each arm, each leg, underarms, chest, stomach, back and other places so in the end there a steaming pile of wet blankets, towels and wash clothes. It felt heavenly, Charnell was pacing behind the door and kept asking if I was okay, I didn't want it to quit but finally gave it up. Bruce had my clean jammies out and I slathered on a heavy coat of Aveno, I decided there would be no more walks tonight. Tomorrow is another day. (The nurses are hoping in the new Cancer center that the bathrooms have a little better design.) I don't regret buying so many pj's they are so comfy to wear. It's awfully dry in these rooms so my lips are constantly chapped, niece Anne from Kansas City sent me a package of Burt's Bees lip balm, Vit 3 and Peppermint and it is the nuts. It is so cooling and peels the dry skin off but I have to keep at it. At night is the worst, I wake up and have cotton mouth.

Bruce will go home early tomorrow to tend to things and by the time he comes back, I'm hoping I will be going with him, can't wait to see my numbers in the morning and hope they keep dropping. Bruce is watching the Hawkeyes and they are doing well considering on the road where they don't do so well, so I think he will stay awake tonight. We watched another Back to the Future this afternoon and 2 days to Ground Hog Day. (If I'm on the way home I won't be disappointed.)

We found our selves in a fight with insurance/medicare that neither one understood but my social worker Jody was in today and told her everything. She was back less than 4 hours later with good news, everything is up to date so that was a relief. Why they put us through that, we have no idea it was the last thing we needed, especially when some guy was trying to say we had another payer, which we don't. So you can all see that it's good news all around.

Over and out for tonight.