Last week was a horror, starting with Lib going to hospital in the ambulance in the early hours of Tuesday morning. It seems that what happened is Lib was given an injection the day after the chemo treatment the previous Wednesday to lessen the risk of infection due to low white blood cell count, which is what occurred after the previous chemo. This injection causes white blood cells to enter the bloodstream from the bone marrow as I understand it. In Lib's case, this caused the extreme pain. When she went into hospital her neutrophills were down but not as low as last time. The next day they had shot up to way above normal levels. She came home last Friday and is much improved but still sore and generally not well, but functioning and managing. Hopefully she will improve from here, but with this chemo business it can be slow for some.
On a happier note, the Demons rolled the Hawks Friday night. Then, I had a good day Saturday when I drove brother Jod to Brunswick so he could attend a 100th birthday party. Some weeks earlier I'd said I might be able to drive him, he was looking for a driver as he didn't have the confidence to drive there himself. I had thought it might key in with Lib to visit her niece and baby who are out that way. Lib was not up to going anywhere, just wanting to rest, but she was happy enough to be left at home so I could take Jod. After all it's not every day you are invited to a 100th birthday party and I thought it'd be a shame if he missed it.
We were half an hour late as we were held up by three separate car accidents before we got half way to Melbourne, but it didn't matter. The lady turning 100 was Florence Howlett, the wife of Jack, one of Jod's old drivers when he was a fireman in the Victorian Railways. Jack died about 7 years ago but Jod has kept in touch with Flo. She was an absolute delight and it was a great pleasure to meet her and her family. Her children are around Jod's and my age, the youngest Chris is 65. Of course there were many nephews and nieces and grandchildren and great grandchildren and it was a fabulous event to be included in. I had gone along semi reluctantly and just doing Jod a good turn (if you can't do your brother a favour now and again what's the guts of you) but ended up really enjoying a memorable day and meeting so many good folk. The food was great, the speeches were too, and Flo is as bright as a button. Jod and all the invited guests got a lovely little book with the family history and photographs on leaving. Jod will cherish it and the memory of the day.
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
A Long Day
I visited Lib in hospital this afternoon about 5pm. She had just been tranferred from Casey Public hospital to St. John of God private across the road. Her severe pain had eased after earlier being sedated and sleeping. The blood tests showed her kidneys were OK, the ultrasound didn't show up any reason for the attack of brutal pain, and she is now back on the antibiotic drip till her neutrophills go up again.
So we're none the wiser really Lib is going to ask them to do a scan while she is there, because the oncologist said she was going to get a scan after the chemo, and Lib thought getting it done now will save her another trip down there. Anyway we hope the oncologist sees her tomorrow and maybe there'll be answers.
How long she's there, again, we don't know. It depends on the neutrophill level. Touch wood all the real bad stuff is behind us now.
Got to go to bed, hardly had any sleep last night.
So we're none the wiser really Lib is going to ask them to do a scan while she is there, because the oncologist said she was going to get a scan after the chemo, and Lib thought getting it done now will save her another trip down there. Anyway we hope the oncologist sees her tomorrow and maybe there'll be answers.
How long she's there, again, we don't know. It depends on the neutrophill level. Touch wood all the real bad stuff is behind us now.
Got to go to bed, hardly had any sleep last night.
The Longest Hour
Not half an hour ago an ambulance took Lib to hospital. She had a bad day yesterday, pain in the lower back and feeling lousy. When I got home from work she said that was the worst she'd felt through all the chemo. Her last chemo dose was last Wednesday.
Still she cooked dinner and ate and watched TV before going to bed early about 9 oclock. I went to bed a couple of hours later, creeping in so as not to wake her. I don't think she was asleep but I lay as still as I could so as not to disturb her by tossing and turning or scratching.
I had trouble getting to sleep myself, and sort of dozed or half slept after a while until Lib turned the light on about 1.30am and rummaged around as she took some medication. She said she had severe pain in the kidney region, intense and throbbing. She was trying to rub her back, and I tried also to give her some relief by massaging but nothing helped. She was grimacing and sighing and almost calling out in pain. I suggested that I take her to hospital such was the state of our alarm. She said no she didn't think she could sit in the car. I said perhaps I should call the ambulance, she said no, the pain might ease as the painkillers worked.
It didn't. It seemed to worsen. She was in agony. About 2am I rang 000 and went through the questionaire process. They said a crew was on the way and told me to ring back if there was any change. By 2.45am no ambulance. Lib's agony continued through all this time. Every few minutes I walked to the top of the drive with a torch to signal the ambulance as it came up the street, then went back to Lib. I rang 000 again, told them I had rang over 40 minutes ago and no show yet. They told me to ring again if there was any change.
About 3.10am as I was coming back from the top of the drive I eventually heard a vehicle in the distance and went back up. I got the driver to back down. It was a tight squeeze, it was a big rig.
They came in and asked Lib a lot of questions and gave her an injection for the pain which they said may or may not work. They told me they'd take her to Casey and left at about 3.45. She was still in great pain. The ambo said it may be kidney or gall stones and unrelated to the cancer and chemo, then again it maybe the chemo.
I made a cup of coffee and write as I'm too agitated to sleep. I'll try to lie down for a few hours then ring the hospital when they've had a chance to find out what the hell. I just hope that the injection worked and Lib's pain eased.
That hour and ten minutes waiting for the ambulance was the longest 70 minutes of my life.
Still she cooked dinner and ate and watched TV before going to bed early about 9 oclock. I went to bed a couple of hours later, creeping in so as not to wake her. I don't think she was asleep but I lay as still as I could so as not to disturb her by tossing and turning or scratching.
I had trouble getting to sleep myself, and sort of dozed or half slept after a while until Lib turned the light on about 1.30am and rummaged around as she took some medication. She said she had severe pain in the kidney region, intense and throbbing. She was trying to rub her back, and I tried also to give her some relief by massaging but nothing helped. She was grimacing and sighing and almost calling out in pain. I suggested that I take her to hospital such was the state of our alarm. She said no she didn't think she could sit in the car. I said perhaps I should call the ambulance, she said no, the pain might ease as the painkillers worked.
It didn't. It seemed to worsen. She was in agony. About 2am I rang 000 and went through the questionaire process. They said a crew was on the way and told me to ring back if there was any change. By 2.45am no ambulance. Lib's agony continued through all this time. Every few minutes I walked to the top of the drive with a torch to signal the ambulance as it came up the street, then went back to Lib. I rang 000 again, told them I had rang over 40 minutes ago and no show yet. They told me to ring again if there was any change.
About 3.10am as I was coming back from the top of the drive I eventually heard a vehicle in the distance and went back up. I got the driver to back down. It was a tight squeeze, it was a big rig.
They came in and asked Lib a lot of questions and gave her an injection for the pain which they said may or may not work. They told me they'd take her to Casey and left at about 3.45. She was still in great pain. The ambo said it may be kidney or gall stones and unrelated to the cancer and chemo, then again it maybe the chemo.
I made a cup of coffee and write as I'm too agitated to sleep. I'll try to lie down for a few hours then ring the hospital when they've had a chance to find out what the hell. I just hope that the injection worked and Lib's pain eased.
That hour and ten minutes waiting for the ambulance was the longest 70 minutes of my life.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)