Holiday Break: Part 2.

The holiday break continues....

I had been sent home from the hospital despite my fever so we returned at 8am as instructed. The day staff all seemed a bit freaked out at the fact that the night staff had sent me home without drawing blood. In fact, they seemed confused why I was sent home at all. After a lecture from the nurse and the doctor about how I never should have been sent home (as though it was my judgement call), they finally took my blood, called the hematology team in Halifax, and set me up with the right antibiotic.

The hematology team in Halifax decided that I needed to be admitted for the rest of the antibiotics and until my fever dispersed so by noon I was strapped in the back of an ambulance zooming down the highway to the VG. I say zooming...we weren't actually going very fast, it was not an emergency. Also, from the point of view of someone on a stretcher in the back, ambulances are ridiculously uncomfortable. I was pretty tired after being up most of the night so I napped on and off the entire day.

By mid-afternoon, I was admitted back in the VG, on 8B still very tired and slightly nauseated. At least 8B is the nicer of the 'B' wings with bigger rooms and my own fridge. Isaiah drove up later in the day with clothes and food and a birthday cake.

I spent the evening and next day on fluids and IV antibiotics feeling overall okay but still very tired. My fever went away and I was well hydrated. Thankfully, my white cell count increased so they stopped the white cell boosters. After days of pain with no white cell growth, I finally had results. The bone pain continued for one more day before finally leaving me alone.

On the 1st they stopped all treatment and waited to see if my fever would return overnight. Thankfully it did not so I was sent packing with my hospital provided lemon meringue pie.

All in all, a short but frustrating hospital stay. Frustrating more because of the timing rather than the actual stay itself. I knew when I woke up at 3am on my birthday with a fever that I would end up admitted in Halifax. I really really didn't want that to happen. I had friends visiting and I'm tired of my health problems ruining every plan I make.

The upside to the hospital stay was that a ton of people came to visit me so I ended up seeing way more friends than I would have had I been hanging out in Springhill as planned. Most of them brought delicious food with them as well which was also fantastic. Thank you everyone, you really are the best.

I'm now comfortably home and feeling pretty good. I made it to the walking track the past two days and my appetite has fully returned. VON nursing is coming twice a week to take blood and do PICC dressing care which is fantastic because it means no poking for me as they can take it from my line. The only downside is that it takes them much longer than at the blood clinic as they have to fill out a mountain of paperwork and label everything by hand. I just sip my tea while they spend 20 minutes writing all my information on every vial of blood.

I guess since my energy is back, it's time to take down the Christmas tree. Tree pick up isn't until next week but the tree itself is very very dead so perhaps it should go outside before it becomes even more of a fire hazard.

Goodbye beautiful tree.