Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Ohhh, it's so good to be home, and it's a bonus knowing I have my days to take care of things
and not return to work. I guess that means there is no excuse not to have my ducks in a row.
=) Dr. Patel let me go to the apartment Sunday night and call the clinic Monday morning about
the Holter monitor. Tara told me I could go home and have it installed at Spring Hill, where I will be
going for labs and other stuff as needed. I will still go to Ochsner every other week for labs,
clinic, and echo. Since I am two months out now, I only have biopsies once a month, which is
tough to be happy about. Although I hate them with a passion, they cannot reduce my steroids
without a biopsy. I thought that the night I went into the emergency room it was hard to go
back into the hospital, but this was ten times worse. It definitely makes you want to make sure
that you follow all of the rules to prevent ANY compromise that would cause you to have to go
back. After being actually AT HOME, being in the hospital and not actually requiring anything was
soooo nerve racking because it still took forever to go to sleep, lab came in at 3:15 a.m., echo
came in at 4:30 a.m., and they came to get my vitals at 5:00 a.m. After that different doctors,
pop in anywhere from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and want to talk. It’s crazy. I was so ready to be
back at my house. Being at home made even the apartment feel confining. Last night as I was
picking up and unpacking, I told Zac that it felt like I was just moving out on my own for the
first time; I was so excited about every little thing. It’s nice to get back into old clothes, too.
Mom came over tonight and brought some more of my Christmas stuff from her house plus
some cute stuff for Foo from some Black Friday scavenging and my makeup that Sephora didn’t
have. She was able to be here for the unveiling of Moses new condo. Since he has to stay
outside now, and the nights have been so bitter, Zac built him a home about six feet off of the
ground on the back porch this afternoon. That way nothing can get his food either. He has been
inside for five years; I bet this is blowing his spoiled, fuzzy little mind. I say spoiled because
even on the back porch he is just that: his best buddy has lined the barrel he sleeps in with a
heating pad, pillow, and a fleece camping blanket - no lie. Pictures to come...no comment.
The monitor they put on me today is just like the hospital telemetry with the sticky leads, but
the transmitter is only about the size of a pager. I have to go to the hospital at 7:30 a.m. each
morning that I have it for them to download the activity it recorded. So I will go back in the
morning, and I will have labs drawn there as well. Yuck. My arms never have time to heal from
the blood draws because the immunosuppressants drastically slow your body's healing ability:
for example, the holes in my neck from the past three biopsies. It doesn’t have a clip on it so
you have to have a pocket. Needless to say, it fell out of my waistband and the batteries came
flying out on the tile floor, so I will probably have to wear it an extra day. Oh well, so what -
I’m wearing it AT HOME!!!
For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson