David's own port

David’s getting a port!

I am excited, you all know how I love cruising and port calls are a big part of cruising. So for David to have his own port… Oh, it’s a port-a-cath for “pushing” meds, blood draws, CT dye, etc. But seriously I am still excited This mean a much easier time for David than getting a bunch of needle “sticks”. His veins are pretty worn out and as I reported, it took about 5 sticks and 3 people to get an IV started for his last chemo. This will be painless, quicker, require less staff and so on. Using the port will also speed up the delivery of one of his chemo meds. Currently going into an IV it can be quite painful so they have to slow the rate and often dilute with saline which slows it even more. This means David will not have to endure the pain or the extra time it takes to deliver. All good news.

Hopefully there will be no more surprise hospitals stays but if they do come about, the port will ease some of the constant blood checks. It may seem minor but after a few days, David was feeling like a pincushion and his veins were protesting and not cooperating.

Thursday is the surgery. He will be sedated not totally knocked out and will return home afterwards.

We already have another adventure planned (no not in the tiny truck and trailer)

We are flying from Yuma to Reno. Our fellowship is having an annual event that we both want to attend. We had purchased tickets before we knew David was going to begin on chemotherapy again. One of his treatments has been moved so he should be feeling fairly good to attend some of the conference. He can rest as needed in the room. However, let’s hope it’s a non-smoking room. They want $26 a Day to guarantee non-smoking! Can you believe that. I do believe I’ll play the cancer card on this one because the rate we are paying already!

Landscaping project continues at the family home. It is turning into a bigger job than I expected (read more time and dollars in that). It is also really turning out nice.

Speaking of the family home, the “little” bedroom is being turned into a retreat for David. An electric bed (thank you BGs); big TV; framed special prints done by our friend Nancy. (see her story here NancyRaimondiArt.com)

On the bed is a sock monkey that my grandmother made, probably 60 or so years ago. Literally made from a pair of socks, who remembers or had one. My sister and I move the monkey around the house to put him in funny places and surprise each other. So of course she had him tucked in the bed after she and her husband had set it up. The other day, David was not feeling well (read I was scared!). He made good use of the room, even tho the TV is not yet hooked up. I went in to check on him (peek to be sure he was breathing!) and didn’t he look sweet with the monkey beside him and one arm across his chest. I’m sure my grandmother would be happy that monkey was being shared, especially since I wasn’t always that good at sharing.

I’m better now at sharing, my things; my experiences and lessons learned along the way.

Chemo and Concrete 5/2/19

Chemo and Concrete 5/2/19

Who knew they went together!

Not a good chemo day, 3 pokes in one arm, 2 pokes in the other, tried by 3 people and finally they got the iv into the vein. I couldn’t believe it and I had to leave. I was feeling physically ill, thought I was going to throw up, pass out, cry or maybe all three. I don’t know if it was watching David in pain or seeing some blood! Or just what was going on I knew David was in good hands, I did ask if he’d mind if I left. I had to get out of there. I needed to pick up some meds for David at the pharmacy downstairs so that was my excuse.

. The volunteer, Sue, who we got to know pretty well from David’s last chemo visits, was there. I appreciated Sue, she said I didn’t’ need to feel bad about leaving and feeling upset, that was perfectly ok. Nice of her to say. She was also telling David to be sure and drink plenty of water, as were the “stabbing gals”. Sue also told us about her port and what a great thing that is. She uses it for blood draws, chemo, and CT. Wow, think of all the sticks that would save. And this has been becoming a problem for David, his veins are and have been protesting. He’ll be asking about getting a port.

Concrete, while not related, also got poured today. This was a bit exciting. Lots of men and noise and concrete. I think this is going to look good. It ended up being a bigger job than we had planned as the breezeway section was also included. That means we have to go out the patio door, around the house and out the side gate. Uh oh, what are these footprints right at the front? You mean to tell me that the postal carrier could not see this was new, wet cement! Why do you think there are stakes and footings and mud around? All to deliver 2 pieces of obviously junk mail. Ok, stay calm. Talk to our guy and he says, no problem they will not show up when they rinse the “cover stuff” (my words) and expose the sand top. Next day, much rinsing water etc. Uh oh, footprints are there plain as day. Back on the phone, register our concern, lets see what they can do. Meanwhile, I’m running away to Yuma, my happy place and will think about this tomorrow!

Ah, Yuma. I went to lunch today with 3 other gals. We laughed a lot. It was most refreshing. David slept most of the time I was gone, However, he did do a few dishes but then that tired him out so he slept some more. I brought him home a little desert to make up for my begin gone.

By the way, I know its concrete, cement is actually an ingredient of concrete. I’ll never forget this because I was quite chastised once by a fellow RVer. Didn’t get the big deal but also haven’t forgotten! So, go mix up come cement and pour your own concrete! …and have some fun…