Friday, February 3, 2012

I'm Back From Cleveland

Hello friends. 
I have returned from Cleveland today.
It has been a long 4 days.
My husband was admitted Monday 
and received his mega dose of chemo on Tuesday.
Wednesday was a day of rest for him.
Thursday he received his own stem cells.
And now the recovery begins, 
the count down till discharge day.
His stay will be 21 days total.
I realized just how child-like an adult can be, 
first asking one person and then another how 
many days till he can go home, 
as if the story would change, 
and the actual facts would differ.
It reminded me of a child who asks mom for something 
and is told "no", 
only to turn around and ask dad for the
same thing because he thinks the answer will be in his favor.
It is only natural to want to go home where you are the most comfortable. We both know he has to stay where he is for 
the time being. He is in expert hands, many of the care givers 
have  20+ years working on the bone marrow transplant floor.
I can rest well knowing he is well taken care of. I will go back in a few days and family will visit him,
filling the void till I return.
There are things needing attention at home. 
The dogs came back from the kennel acting like they hadn't 
seen me in years instead of days. The mail needed picked up at the post office and bills need paid. 
I have his laundry to do and to take back with me when I return.
He is not to use a safety razor because his platelet 
count will drop to an all time low. 
Care has to be taken for him to not to cut himself. 
I need to buy him an electric shaver.
He has not used one of those in years. 
And it is great to learn something new every day, and we did.
Do you know that when they harvest your stem cells 
they clean them up and preserve them? 
They freeze the cells till the time of transplant. 
The preservative they use smells like corn.
When the patient receives their cells they will smell like corn.
You can walk past a patient's room and know that day they received their transplant stem cells.
 We joked that we would bring a stick of butter, lol. 
The chemo messes with your mind. 
They refer to that as "chemo brain". 
It makes you weak and tired.
There is so much more you learn 
and what I have told you is just a drop in the bucket. 
I think I have rattled on long enough for now.
I will end this post with a few more things, one being info about my January GIVEAWAY.
I am a few days late with picking a winner and will commence 
to do that tomorrow, when I am not so tired and refreshed.
I know I have kept all of you who have participated waiting
so long that you have probably forgotten,
but rest assured, I have not.
This has no doubt been one of the longest running 
giveaways in blog history 
and for your patience I plan to reward you. 
Had I not been in Cleveland these past 4 days your package 
would already be in the mail.
Also I did take my crocheting along with me and I plan
to get up some snap shots of the progress. 
I spent many hours at the bedside with a yarn needle tucking in loose ends on hexes.....and hating it. 
I admit that is NOT my favorite thing to do....
I think you have heard me whine about this in the past, 
forgive me. 
All the time I was whining I was thinking about sewing instead. 
Now why do I do that? 
Well, one good reason that set off this chain of thought was that I saw this striped owl 
in one of the many hospital
gift shops and it was so darn cute, 
but the cost was terrible, 
and in my mind I told myself 
I could make that out of material. 
I still have not taken my camera to the hospital. 
I keep intending to do that. 
There is some awesome artwork 
throughout the place, 
(and of course that owl that is going to 
bug the crap out of me and
 I can't walk past the gift shop window without spying it out). 
My husband's room (11th floor) has a very close 
overhead view of the rooftop
where the helicopter pads are located for the ER. 
There is activity going on there 24/7.
Well, enough about all this. 
I hope I have not bored you to tears, 
but this is my life here lately in a nutshell .
I hope all of you are well, and I really need to catch up on what everyone has been doing these past several days. I have blogs to read, new followers to visit and thank, and if I have missed someone then please come and remind me to take notice. 
It is Super Bowl weekend and I am sure all of you fans are excited
 and busy planning some fun.
I love my followers and thank you all for hanging in there 
and being patient with me. 
I will be back tomorrow.
♥ God Bless You All ♥
 







9 comments:

  1. Sweetie you are going through so much right now I think no one would mind if you postponed your giveaway. I wouldn't worry about it. Get your rest and I will pray hubby responds well and is able to handle his stay patiently. Poor guy. I can't imagine. Take care of you.

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  2. Dear, your post touched me.
    I hope all the best for your husband. Don't worry about the giveaway: it's the last thing now. Take care of you so to be able to help your husband. I'm not so good in english to tell you all I think.
    May the force be with you.
    Kiss

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  3. Susanne, you could never bore us to tears. We are all here for you and want to hear everything you can think of to share with us. You are going through so much right now and that has to be so hard. I will be thinking of yo and sending you both positive thoughts, because you need them as much as your husband does.
    Sending you a huge hug,
    Meredith

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  4. Concentrate and you and your husband! Your followers will be here for you when you need us. Our thoughts are with you!

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  5. Thinking of you Susanne and sending all my best wishes for you and your hubby. ((hugs)) :)

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  6. You are an amazing woman! But then, what choice do you have, eh? God Bless You, my blog friend. And God Bless your husband as well. I have two dear friends, both of whom have hubbies that have been through stem cell transplants and the germ free recuperation period. I loved your description of him asking and re-asking the questions he knows the answers to! Just in case it changed...ya gotta ask! Hugs to you...stay strong and do something lovely for yourself today! OK? Hugs, Annette

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  7. and still you found time to comment on my Blog! Thank you so much for finding time out of your world to say hello and write a comment!
    I wish your Husband all the very best with his treatment, thinking of you all,
    Best wishes Suex

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  8. Hoping the treatment is going really well and it won't be long before your husband can ask the question "when can I go home" and he gets the answer "today".
    I do that - see something and think "I could make that so much cheaper" but more often than not I forget all about it! Need to take photos.
    Take care of yourself, you need your strength too.
    Carol xx

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  9. I wish all is in order and God bless you all. I'm sure your husband will be home soon with your care. Everything will be alright with positive thinking
    My prayer with you.

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