Letter Four

Dear Vera,

My oh my.

These last few days have been quite interesting. I called off work a few days ago because of a special trip to MBMC. Doctors JS, BG, and JO are so compassionate and caring; simply put, they make the ER barable. I must admit, I think they are fabulous. Altho, it's quite frustrating to be in and out of the hospital; in because of the pain, and out because they really can't do anything for this crazy disease. I'm in the middle of a roller-coaster ride, and I can't get off... even if I tried!!

Today my dosage went up on my LU shots. So instead of going to the doctors office every 3 weeks, I'm now going once every 3 months! I'm finally showing some improvment! YAY!! I'm still learning how to take care of myself, what and what not to do, what medications work the best, and which ones I'm allergic to. Those would be moriphine and dilaudid. The last time I graced the ER with my prescence, we quickly discovered my allergy to moriphine as hives started to break out on my wrist and continue to go up my arm.

To say that I was concerned would be a gross understatment. When I asked what pain meds they had decided to give me, Chvana quickly came to the side of the bed and informed the nurse that my mom and sister both were extremely allergic to this drug. Nurse No-Name (he wasn't very friendly!) quickly replied that, 'I'm just doing what the doctor ordered.' Well, he quickly felt very concerned, as he watched the drug wreak havoc in my body. Right then I learned no matter what, I'm going to ask questions, no matter what the hospital staff thinks of me.

ASK QUESTIONS; big or small. If you don't know what's going on, how then can you take care of yourself?

With the many visits to the ER at MBMC, I've learned which arm is able to take the stress of handling a IV port. My poor viens have been through a thorough work-out over the past 3 months, due to the countless IV ports and many blood tests. So it was no surprise to me, on one of the many visits to MBMC, that somebody 'chose' the wrong vein. Much to their dismay and my exceeding discomfort, my viens in my left arm were not giving a blood return strong enough to support the port.

So Nurse T tried again... thus giving me two ports to deal with during that particular visit. Thankfully that has only happened once! I do believe once is enough in my life time. I do not thoroughly enjoy being poked at, making pin cushions out of my upper appendages. As the hot silent tears rolled down my face, the stress, pain, and frustration of the whole ordeal finally sinking in, Sister #3 climbs up on the bed, and wraps her arms around me. Sisters #1 and 2 look on as we all held hands and shared 'a moment'.

They have been incredible throughout this journey. Hours upon hours spent beside my bed, feet become many miles as Sister #1 drives me back and forth each time, and the feeble attempts to make me smile through the pain; these are my sisters.



Support the ones fighting and cheer for the ones supporting,

Ktr