Its taking a while for us to get settled back in in California from our last trip to Little Rock. Dave and I both got colds and it has done a great job of beating him up. Its very hard to be hacking and coughing when you are otherwise healthy, but when you have been beaten down with chemo, it just really wears you out.
We had a rough trip home on the plane as we had started the day at the crack of dawn to get the car packed and out of the apt for our 8 AM doc appt. Then we didn't get on the plane until 2:30. As a result we didn't get our morning snooze and I think we were both just beat. I got Dave airport assistance all the way home and it was very helpful, for me anyway, to have an extra pair of hands and Dave not having to waste his energies getting from gate to gate or thru security without help. By the time we got home though we were just plum wore out (as they say in the south).
The day after we got home we got a call that the cultures they ran before we left showed a "probable staph" in Dave's iport. Crap! But, the doctor wasn't too concerned as Dave was not showing any symptoms at all. No fever and the infection numbers they monitor were stable and in fact going down from a number that wasn't even that significant. So our at home doctor needs to follow up on that. I called the at home doc on Thursday and his office prescribed a strong antibiotic. Friday evening Dave was doubled over in pain and so off to the emergency room we went. I didn't even know where the hospital was! (For those who may not know, we just moved to California after 27 years on the east coast!) Friday night in the Emergency Room, any emergency room, is like a bad movie. I told Dave he really didn't need to bother looking pitiful, they don't care and it won't get him to see the doctor any sooner. We got back and they had just opened their new emergency treatment center 2 days earlier. It was beautiful, but they were struggling to find things. The one bit of humor we had was in the next room we could hear a doc talking to a patient who spoke rather loudly. She was asking him if he drank. He said, No he didn't (cuz he was on some sort of psychotropic and it made him sick), but he sure liked to smoke Pot! Dave and I were both chuckling to ourselves. He went on for sometime on how much he enjoyed spoking pot. By the time he was done I almost wanted to ask him for a joint!
So, as suspected, the antibiotic was what was causing all Dave's stomach pains. Got that all sorted out and went home. I was a tad resentful that he was sleeping nicely on the gurney, while I was stuck in the metal chair in a cold room waiting until he felt better. We got home around 3:30 am. I slept most of the next day. Its wearing me out.
We saw the new doc on Tuesday and he continues to be a god send to us. Turns out we do need an oncologist and our new doc has one in their offices that he says is very good. He will make a referral for us and hopefully we will get that all sorted out.
Dave is much frailer than before. Of course, he wasn't as strong this time as he had been back in Nov/Dec. As soon as he was feeling a little better we were back for another round. We have all encouraged him to do physical therapy to help him get stronger for the next round in May so that his "de-conditioned" state isn't too far gone to be able to get back to a healthy level.
His company is laying off people, but for right now his guys are going to furlough 4 days each quarter in an effort to keep their jobs. The economy sucks along with the global banking crisis and everyone is truly just trying to hang on, including us, coupled with a serious illness, sometimes you just wonder how you manage through each day, but you do.
I'm supposed to go home to Maryland this Saturday and spend my daughter's spring break with her. It's Thursday and I'm still planning to go, but of course its worrisome with Dave. He should be OK, but I'm not sure he thinks he will be. My wonderful new neighbors have all said I need to go and they will look out for him, meals and so forth.
I know this post sounds like a bit of a downer, and not typical for me. Truly though, we are managing and getting through it all and I still feel confident we will come out the other side. We get to be home for 2 months or so this time and I'm hopeful Dave will start with PT in the next couple of weeks and begin to feel better. If he could just get this cold gone it would help a lot.
Sorry I haven't been on the chat much.
Catch you guys later!
Best,
Lori
