Tube is removed!

My Tuesday CT scan went smoothly (I get the results this coming Tuesday) and my Wednesday visit with the Wound and Ostomy Nurse gave me lots of new information to process. All good!

On Friday morning, I was scheduled to get my nephrostomy tube removed. Woo hoo! In the pre-appointment phone call, they told me this: The doctor will inject dye into the tube and make sure that everything is flowing smoothly. If it is, they will remove the tube, and no sedation needed. If not, they will make a decision of what to do, and it may involve sedation.

The uncertainty on the medical front can be a little crazy-making. The logistical side also weighs on me, as I don’t like to inconvenience people, but I cannot drive myself home from these appointments. This requires me to ask a friend to keep the whole day free to pick me up at “whatever” time and in whatever drugged shape I am in, and to find folks to manage childcare, school pick-ups, etc. To top it off, my husband was out of town.

But friends were flexible and generous, we solved the logistics, and I was eager to finish up the week of appointments. On Friday morning, the Uber arrived promptly and I got into the car, looking forward to some quiet time to settle in before my procedure.

“Hi, are you Marie?” the driver asked in his unmistakable Minnesota accent. Knowing that the typical Midwesterner is chatty, I settled in for a conversational drive. My quiet time would have to wait.

We arrived at the hospital on time (despite traffic, construction zones and rain – very impressive) and I checked in. They asked me to have a seat until they called me, so I did.

Next, two women walked in together. One was dressed like any customer you might see at Starbucks. The other was dressed in what I think of as hospital clothes: Ugly clothes that you can easily wash in scalding water or might even choose to burn. She was quite thin (like me!) and her clothes hung on her like a hanger. I’m guessing that she was the patient.

“Hi,” she cheerfully greeted the person at the check-in desk. “I’m Deborah. D-E-B-O-R-A-H.”

She chatted like I do when I am nervous, about the pencils and her students. Once she was checked in, they called for me and someone led the three of us (Deborah, her friend, and me) downstairs to the room where they prep us patients. I still wanted to have some quiet time, so I walked behind the others. We checked into pre-op, then sat together.

I noticed that Deborah was wearing a nephrostomy bag. As much as I thought I needed quiet, I was compelled to ask her about it. She lamented that no one could tell her how to live with this, and I could relate. (They only told each of us, “You’ll figure it out.”) We shared our few personal tips and tricks for wearing the bags and handling the tubes, how to sleep (which is, not), etc. She told me that, at one point, she had two of them, and she hated them. I could relate to that too. I didn’t tell her that I hoped to get my tube removed that day. We joked about having so few body parts left inside our abdomens.

Soon they brought us each to our own little curtained area so we could be prepped for our procedures, and I wished we could chat a bit longer.

The nurse anesthetist walked into my curtained area, and we immediately recognized each other from my prior procedures. She was also chatty. Clearly, I was not going to get my quiet time yet, so I put my own agenda aside and conversed.

She described what would happen in the procedure room and – I love this part – NO ONE PUT AN IV IN ME. No one. I was prepared for them to say, “Just in case we need this” but no one did. I was thrilled.

Soon they wheeled me out of my area, past all the other patients. Everyone looks so sick in this context so I try not to look at them, but I suddenly saw Deborah, and we gleefully yelled out “Hi!”

The nurse wheeled me to the procedure room, where I transferred my body face-down to another table that had an x-ray machine hovering over it. The nurse kept talking and talking, now about another patient who loved to do food-related travel and was soon going to Greece with a famous local chef. She also talked about his love of wine and how he promised her a bottle of something really special. It occurred to me that while she may not be administering anesthesia for this procedure, she was effectively distracting me. She does her job well.

She transitioned to telling me that my doctor does a wine-tasting fundraiser every September to benefit the Boy Scouts. I was intrigued. His son was in Scouts, she explained, and he fully supports his son in everything he does. Then she mentioned that he also sells handmade lanyards to raise money for autism, and I was again intrigued. I briefly shared our family story with her and the doctor appeared.

He introduced himself, then immediately turned his focus to directing the Fellow, who was doing the hands-on work. The procedure moved quickly. I loved that the doctor said all good things during the procedure, like “this looks good” and “it’s a smooth flow.” I don’t think he said them for my psychological benefit, but I was still grateful.

The Fellow injected dye, watched it on the x-ray machine, removed the stitches and the tube, and bandaged me up as the Attending Doctor guided him through it.

As they wrapped up their work, the doctor said to me, “All done. Now you never have to see me again.”

“The first time I saw you, you made me cry. Gulping, devastated sobs.”

“You were furious with me.”

I laughed. “I was. I hated you.”

The nurse interrupted us. She shared that she told me about his fundraisers, and I shared that we had a few things in common. He started to tell me all kinds of stories about his son and daughter. He was obviously proud of them both and had a good sense of humor about their personalities. I loved listening to him animatedly share the details.

When he left the room, the nurse said, “I have NEVER seen him talk so long, much less to a patient. That was something.”

During college, I had a job as a bank teller. One of my favorite moments of the day was taking a super grumpy customer and shifting their mood before they walked away from my counter and into the rest of their day.

In that moment, I had that same feeling. Though I suspect that this time, I was both the teller and the customer.

As they wheeled me back to the pre- and post-op room, we passed Deborah, getting wheeled to her procedure. The nurses stopped so that we could connect one more time.

Maybe I wasn’t supposed to have a quiet morning. Apparently, it wasn’t what I needed.

You can’t always get what you want
But if you try sometimes well you just might find
You get what you need

Rolling Stones

I hope you find that you get what you need, as well as what you want!

Blessings and love,
Marie

Angel appearance

Quick health update: All appointments went well! Thank you so much for your prayers, positive thoughts, and everything else. I swear that you can move matter, and I really appreciate your efforts on my behalf. Thank you.

I have three stories to share, so I will do them in three separate posts. The first one is from Friday night, after a long three days of medical appointments.

Suddenly craving pad Thai, I googled to find the best places near me. (Does one capitalize Google as a verb?) The top recommended spot wasn’t exactly “near” me but the drive was tolerable.

If you have spent time with me in person, you may have noticed that I rarely carry a purse or wallet, and even more rarely carry cash. I usually carry my phone, whose case holds exactly two credit cards.

Back to pad Thai. I called, placed my order, grabbed my phone (with its two credit cards) and made my way to the restaurant. Once inside, I noticed an ATM machine. That usually means the establishment is Cash Only. Sure enough, when my eyes scanned the counter, I saw the large sign: CASH ONLY.

No-name ATM machines (with their additional withdrawal charges) annoy me, but it was more annoying to drive back home to get cash that I wasn’t even sure I could find. So, I tried my Visa card in the ATM. Didn’t work. I tried my American Express. Also didn’t work.

I called American Express and while I got excellent service from a real live person, I couldn’t get cash. I hadn’t set up the process in advance and it takes 21 days. Too long to wait for pad Thai.

I called Visa. Because it was issued by the same bank where we have our checking account, I thought I would have some luck with them. But despite giving them every bit of identifying information, they couldn’t share my password or help me get cash.

Unsure what else I could do before I left, I decided to try the card one more time and guess one more password.

While I was doing this, someone hugged me.

Lisa!

She and her husband had appeared suddenly, out of nowhere! It was so fun to see them there. And then, on top of that, they had CASH. Not a lot, they said, but they were willing to share what they had.

In my usual greedy way, I ordered way too much food. I was willing to accept some cash, but I didn’t want to take all their cash. But guess what! Whoever took my order over the phone thought I said that I would call back to confirm the order.

That meant that they hadn’t even cooked or assembled my little piggy order! I could order from scratch! Pad Thai was less than $10, and it was all I really wanted anyway. So I ordered pad Thai as Lisa and her husband handed $10 to me and went on their way.

Wow. Gratitude and awe. Angels all around. I hope you can see yours, or that your invisible ones are giving you the support you need.

Blessings.
Marie

Back to bag, and then chemo

Thank you for all your prayers and positive thoughts! The procedure on Friday went well. They were able to place the big girl double-J stent! They left one skinny tube hanging out of my back, just in case.

Good thing, because on Sunday morning, I again woke up with pain in my left kidney and a wet bandage. Back to the bag we go. Ugh. But the on-call doc reassured me that this isn’t unusual and I am likely still on my path to having just the stent, no tube.

So, I will have the bag until Wednesday and we will then try again without the bag.

In the meantime, I have chemo on Tuesday, so prayers and positive thoughts for an effective and easy session are much appreciated!

Thank you so very much.

Love and blessings,
Marie

Blessings in the ER

Sunday night in the ER, I registered and they sent me to the waiting room. It was initially empty, but I was soon joined by a few other patients, one of whom spoke loudly and angrily. Every sentence contained at least one swear word.

“Who would XXX-ing do this? What a XXX-XXXX XXX-er! The Galleria is high-class mall! And they didn’t do anything to help me.”

There would be short a pause and he would begin his rant again. I covered my ears. The man next to me put in headphones.

Eventually, a security guard approached him and explained that there were other people around him and he needed to keep his voice down.

When they called me back to the ER, I was relieved to be away from all that. They gave me a space that was separated from other patients by curtains (no walls). And before too long, I could hear the guy on the other side of the curtain. Yes, that same guy.

I decided to listen to his story. Filtering out the expletives, I gathered that he had been at the “high-class Galleria mall” when someone punched him in the face with brass knuckles.  The Galleria called the ambulance for him, and he said they told him that the police would meet him at the ER.

The nurse was infinitely patient as she explained how she would do his stitches, and that he needed to be quiet because there were a lot of sick people around. Some of them even had cancer. (I didn’t like being on that list – made it sound like the sickest of the sick.)

While the nurse worked, he continued his ranting and raving, repeating his story over and over, and the nurse eventually told him that she was done and he was fine to leave.

“I need to find a dry place to sleep tonight.”

Yikes. He had to be homeless. And it was raining. That would stink. Maybe I heard him wrong. But then a friend of mine came to visit and noted the odor, further convincing me that this guy was homeless.

He continued on his rant. “Where are the XXX-ing police? I need to file charges. The Galleria said they would be here!” It occurred to me that they probably told him that to get him to be quiet.

His body pushed through the curtain into my little space, and I could see that he was in the far back corner of his little space. He was trying his hardest not to leave. I felt badly for him – there was no way for me to know what it was like to walk in his shoes – but having him not only verbally but also physically in my space was a bit much for me. I asked him to get back into his space, and he quickly moved. My heart broke for him: He so readily accommodated my request while he could not get anyone to give him what he was asking for.

I remained struck by his statement of finding a dry place to sleep.

As I sat there under the bright ER lights in my way-too-big hospital gown, nervously waiting to see what the plan was for me, I gave thanks that once I got through with all this, I could return to a safe and warm home with a cozy bed and family around.

May you feel all the beautiful blessings in your life,
Marie

And things feel better!

As you know, I have recently felt disconnected from God and all the magical stuff that I love. But now, I need to tell you about this past week…

I was supposed to go see John of God at Omega in Rhinebeck, NY. I have been seeing him, either in Brazil or North America, for a number of years, as I find it worthwhile on many levels. But this year, I had to cancel due to my procedure.

They say that the entities who work with John of God begin to work on you when you set your intention and book the trip. Some years, that has been obvious. Other years, more subtle (as in, I can’t tell at all).

This year, I saw nothing. But then, I was in my grumpy mood and wasn’t about to see anything, I guess.

Now that I am at the end of the week, I will share a couple of stories with you that I found fascinating.

“Random” meeting

Nancy and I planned to go to Omega together, but she was there by herself (among 2,000 other people) this year.

At lunchtime, all 2,000 people converge on this tiny lunchroom, and you find a seat anywhere you can. Sarah scanned the room and there were few, if any, open seats, but she found one next to Nancy.

They chatted over lunch for about 45 minutes and, when they got up to leave, Nancy mentioned that she was supposed to travel here with her friend, Marie….

Sarah said something like, “This can’t be the same Marie!”

What a “random” meeting! I loved that!

Divine guidance

As you might remember, my surgery went better than anyone expected. The nephrostomy went smoothly. And, despite the fact that the doctor said that he NEVER places a stent in that same first surgery, he placed the stent. “It was just clear,” he told my husband. Yay!!! Really glad that he had some divine guidance and followed it!

Lovely surgeon

You might also remember that I wasn’t crazy about my surgeon, but my urologist calmed me down.

When they were prepping me, a young, very nice doctor came to see me. I asked if he would be doing the surgery. “No, I’m the resident. I’ll be in the room observing. Dr. XxXx will do the surgery.”

That was an unfamiliar name and I wasn’t sure if I was crazy about the switch.

“Who is Dr. XxXx?” I asked.

“The Fellow,” he replied. “Dr. XYXY is attending.”

Then he said goodbye, see you in surgery, whatever.

I looked at my husband-the-doctor.

“You are at a teaching hospital. The room will be filled with all kinds of doctors learning.”

“I know. This is what I signed up for. Still…”

And they wheeled me in.

Just before I went under, this amazing woman appeared by my side. She seemed kind and competent.

“Hi, I’m Dr. XxXx.”

YES!

And finally, on a personal note…

Without going into too much detail, there is something that one of our boys has wanted in his life for a long time. We couldn’t see a way to make that happen – there were lots of obstacles, the logistics seemed to be crazy, it just wasn’t going to happen.

And then, within a very short period of time, circumstances changed to allow what he wanted to become reality. We are still working on it, but the path feels clear and joyful, and I’m so excited for him. I’m looking forward to this more than anything else right now, even more than a vacation.

Right now…

Sitting in so much gratitude and wonder, and soaking it all in. Thanks for taking this path with me, and hoping you are feeling the light. Thank you for all the support you gave as I walked through a darker place, and for all your prayers and positive thoughts when I could generate none of that. You helped all of this come about, and helped to move me to a better place.

Chemo tomorrow (Tuesday) morning…

Love and blessings,
Marie

Hab 1:2-3; 2:2-4

How long, O LORD? I cry for help
but you do not listen!

I cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you do not intervene.

Why do you let me see ruin;
why must I look at misery?

Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and clamorous discord.

Then the LORD answered me and said:

Write down the vision clearly upon the tablets,
so that one can read it readily.

For the vision still has its time,
presses on to fulfillment, and will not disappoint;

if it delays, wait for it,
it will surely come, it will not be late.

The rash one has no integrity;
but the just one, because of his faith, shall live.

All is good!

I’ll admit that it is way easier to celebrate God when things go well.

I’m totally celebrating! I am thanking God and all of you for all your prayers and help in making the surgery even more successful than ANYONE expected.

The plan was to place a nephrostomy for at least two weeks, to make sure there is no infection, to deflate the kidney and make it easier to place the stent, etc. And the doctor told me, he never places stents in the first surgery because he always has to go back and fix it.

So I was prepared (as much as I guess I could be – was still freaking out) to have the nephrostomy and a constant companion bag.

BUT they not only placed the tube but they also PLACED THE STENT!! We were thrilled.

The show isn’t done: This is sort of a “starter stent” and I have to have the “big girl stent” placed another day. And I still have a tube hanging out of my back, along with a huge bandage (and still no showers allowed). Awkward.

But, really, NO BAG for the expected 2-4 weeks! I had it for about 36 hours, more than enough for me, as I’m running out of places to hide bags under my clothing. Woo hoo. Hopefully soon, I can have the tube removed and shower again. But in the meantime, I am THRILLED about the forward progress!

I know for sure that your prayers and support made the difference. So much energy going that way. Thank you. When I was under conscious sedation, I could feel it. I believe that faith can move mountains. What a difference! Thank you.

If you want a story from the day, here is one. Otherwise, thank you for reading this far and for all you have done with your connection to God and the great energy grid! Sending love love love! And, now, this story:

I arrived pretty nervous, but EVERYONE I encountered was not only pleasant but also uplifting. After I signed in, the receptionist sent my husband to the cushy breakfast area while a volunteer took me and another woman (older than I am) to get prepped.

It was a little bit of a walk, including an elevator ride, so the volunteer made small talk and I let the other woman carry the other side of the conversation. I really wasn’t into it.

When we reached the prep area, the volunteer left and the other woman and I sat in adjacent chairs, waiting to be called.

Already in chatty mode and actually quite friendly, the woman asked me, “Is this your first port?”, leading me to I assume she was there to have a port placed.

“Oh, I’m not here for a port,” I told her. “But I do have one.” And I showed it to her.

“They ran out of veins,” she sighed.

“Oh, the port is MUCH easier. Much. To be honest, it took a couple of months to get used to it.” Her eyes got wide, so I quickly added, “But now I barely think about it.”

Like me, she had a right-side mastectomy, so I told her they would likely place the port above her left breast. “I do notice it when I drive, when the seat belt hits it a certain way. Otherwise, I really don’t think about it.”

They called my name and I told her that she was going to be great. We never shared the type of cancer we were dealing with, or why I was there, but that is okay. Allowing myself to make a connection helped me to relax and regain confidence, and I hope that her procedure went just as well as mine did.

Thanks to God and to you!

Love and blessings,
Marie

 

 

Procedure on Tuesday morning

Thanks again for all your support, in so many ways. This whole ride has been crazy lately, between the medical issues and making sure the kids have a good start to school, we really appreciate all the support in whatever form it takes.

So, to ask for MORE…

I have a “procedure” on Tuesday morning to get a nephrostomy. Please send prayers and positive thoughts that this goes smoothly and successfully AND that I am not super depressed afterwards! As much as I want to believe and trust that this will be in for only two weeks, the interventional radiologist firmly planted in my psyche the thought that this might be permanent. That thought creeps out from the dark recesses of my mind at the most inopportune times.

Regardless, we can only move forward. It is sort of surreal to go about daily life knowing that on Tuesday, I have little clue how my life will change. I know that on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, I will have a visiting nurse to help me with all this. That alone makes me feel like there will be an adjustment. I talked with another nurse on Friday – he was super nice but when I asked how to live with this on a daily basis – how to sleep and drive and keep myself clean – he actually said that I will have to “MacGyver my way through this.” I have never been good at MacGyvering anything. Besides, it is crazy, to me, that they have done so many of these yet cannot tell you how to live with it.

Looking beyond this makes me crazy too. I have something every week for the next 2+ months:

• Procedure (to place nephrostomy)
• Chemo
• Procedure (to put in the stent)
• Chemo
• CT scan
• Chemo
• Procedure (in case first time the stent doesn’t work)
• Chemo
• Procedure (to remove nephrostomy tube)
• Chemo

I cannot process all that, so I am focused on today. I have been doing what I can with the boys, attended a class dinner with my husband, visited with friends, took care of one child who wasn’t feeling well enough to attend school.

In the spirit of making the best of things, I woke up Saturday morning and thought, instead of looking at this as “no more showers for awhile”* I should look at it as “I really appreciate the next four days of showers.”

So I got out of bed, turned on the shower, and….lukewarm water. I knew that meant there wasn’t much left so I took a quick and not fully satisfying shower, then learned our heating system was broken. Ironic. (Thanks to my husband, it got fixed that very day.)

Right now, I am feeling good and back to being grateful for my life, even with all my external parts, and being nervous about things like the Presidential debates and the upcoming election.

Thank you for your prayers and positive vibes on Tuesday morning. I head into Brigham and Women’s at 6:30 a.m. Eastern U.S. time. And I pray my thanks for you in my life.

Love,
Marie

*I am not allowed to bathe, swim or shower for as long as I have this thing in. Only spongebaths. I asked what I should do if I sweat. The nurse laughed and said I won’t be exerting myself enough to sweat. Obviously he has not gone through menopause.

More clarity on the kidney stent program

Thank you for helping me to process all that has happened over the past week.

Over the weekend, my husband and I (and friends and folks posting here!) talked about a lot of options. Things like, if you trust a surgeon and something goes wrong, you feel like they did their best and you aren’t angry. We batted around lots of ideas and perspectives and emotions.

In between, I got a couple of significant phone calls. As I mentioned in the last post, my oncologist, who had been in Australia, called me, on a Friday night, from his car just after he landed from Logan Airport. He wanted to hear my perspective, then promised to work on this over the weekend.

On Saturday evening, my urologist called. He was the one who put in the first stent but couldn’t get the second one in. He spent a good amount of time helping me understand the path forward.

I certainly can’t complain about my medical care there. Wow.

In the end, I had more information to consider, but mostly, I felt much, much better.

Here is my summary of our conversation:

• Although the interventional radiologist is doing the next procedure, the urologist is managing this whole process. I didn’t realize that. I thought he had done his part and then handed me off to the next doctor. Of course I would assume that I am in charge! Now, I can think of the urologist as running the show and subcontracting this part to an interventional radiologist. It is a relief to know that I don’t have to stress over how to drive this program.
• The urologist plans for this to be a temporary tube. There is always a chance that they can’t do the stent, but that isn’t a decision for now. The plan is to do the stent, and he feels there is a very good chance that they can.
• The interventional radiologist is focused, not on the whole problem, just this next step. So he didn’t realize this is meant to be temporary and assumed it was permanent.
• Interventional radiologists don’t always have the best bedside manner. The urologist wholeheartedly supports me if I want to change doctors, but has worked with this guy in the OR and feels he is quite skilled. He also clearly said that if a family member needed this procedure, he would recommend this guy. So I decided to think about whether I can deal with the personality in exchange for the skill.
• The urologist is going to contact the interventional radiologist and make the program clear, that the next step is to do everything possible to place a stent, and make sure that he is on board.

That and your supportive comments helped me to get through the weekend. Thank you.

I apologize if this feels like I am taking you on a roller coaster ride. I don’t like that feeling myself. I was so, so scared, and you really helped me through that part.

Someone made a comment on my last blog post, and I will paraphrase it here. I used to walk around with an “unspoken innate trust that what is optimal will happen, or the sense that whatever happens will ultimately be workable.” I don’t always have that lately, but life at least is helping me to see that that is still true, so am hoping to regain that feeling.

So, the roadmap looks like this.

1. I will get the nephrostomy.
2. Roughly two weeks later, I will have the procedure to place the stent.
3. If the stent can be placed, great. If not, then I can decide that maybe the bag isn’t as horrible to live with as I feared, or that I just can’t stand to live with that bag. If the latter, then we take it out and let the kidney go.

Although the schedule for the next five weeks looks crazy (every other week will have either chemo or a procedure requiring anesthesia), I can take a deep breath and get through it.

Thank you again.

But just to ask for more – I have chemo tomorrow (Tuesday). Please keep me and all of us in your prayers for an effective chemo session!

Love and blessings,
Marie

And the story continues…

If you are here looking for the bottom line, scroll to the end of this post.

He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
Psalm 112:7

On Tuesday, I went in for chemo. A friend generously volunteered to accompany me for the whole shebang, and because I had a CT scan in the wee hours of Monday morning, my husband joined for the appointment with the oncologist so that they could view and discuss the scan. He’s amazing.

Backing up to the start of the day…

My friend and I arrived at Dana Farber. My port was accessed (and I didn’t vomit – yay!). I got weighed (holding steady above 100 pounds – yay!) and blood pressure taken (normal), plus temperature and oxygen. All normal. (And no vomiting.)

And then we saw my oncologist. He was a bit more serious than usual, but I just thought he was busy.

Turns out, there is tumor, not just pressing on my bladder, but pressing on my ureters. This puts me in danger of kidney problems. I didn’t know how my body is designed, so will explain here in case it helps you, too. Kidneys are connected to ureters, which empty into the bladder. The bladder empties via the urethra, and that’s about it. Simple design.

I think of the ureters as tubes, and the stents as straws to help hold them open so the kidneys can drain properly. No idea if this is accurate, but the image works for me.

Anyway, kidney news not ideal, but we’ve had bad news before and I figure, if there is a fix, we can deal with it. Mostly I hated that the ED resident from the night before was right, though I was grateful for his persistence.

But then, the doctor continued.

“If they can’t put in the stents by going through the urethra, then they need to do it by going through the kidney. This is a surgical procedure and means that you will have a bag for about eight weeks. And if they can’t do it at all, then you will have a permanent bag.”

WHAT???? Here is where my insides started spinning. Many years ago, I got a permanent colostomy bag. I feel like I dealt with that pretty well. In fact, I would take the bag over tumors any day.

But TWO bags??? This was too much. And I have lost so many body parts already. At what point do you lose so many that you are no longer a person?

I tried to stay focused on the moment, but when I returned my psyche to the actual moment, here is what I heard:

“And your tumors have grown. It isn’t clear, but there may be a new one…It’s hard to tell fully by this scan. And there is a tumor in the bladder. Maybe it is blood clot.”

My husband and doctor conferred on tumor vs blood clot. I was trying to push back the thought of another bag and deal with the fact that, even though I felt great, my tumors look bigger.

Ugh ugh ugh. If the tumors are bigger, then this chemo isn’t working. And if this chemo isn’t working, I need to go to FOLFOX, which I’ve done before and HATE from every angle you can hate a chemotherapy.

I found my voice and asked, “Can you check my CEA?” My CEA is a tumor marker that has, for years, been a reliable marker of growth. If it is bigger, then my tumors are bigger. If it is smaller, then my tumors are smaller.

He looked it up. “Before changing chemos, it was 800 something. Two weeks ago, it was 400 something.”  (He gave me the exact numbers. I just don’t remember them.)

Well, that was some good news that I could hang onto. But the scan. That freaking scan kept entering my mind. And the bag.

Well, no chemo anyway until we get the kidney situation under control. Which made me nervous too. No chemo means that nothing is fighting these tumors on my behalf.

Next up: See the urologist.

The end of August is not a great time to need a specialist. Everyone is on vacation. I know this because I have had more than one surgery and more than one emergency in August. Right now, the preferred urologists were on vacation, except for one who wasn’t leaving until Saturday!

He and my oncologist had communicated at 11:30 the night before. He was not in clinic that day but agreed to perform a test to see if they could possibly do the stents “the easier way” through the urethra.

Before I see the urologist, I need to take two Cipro pills, to prevent any infection that the test might cause. No problem you may think. Except that the pills are administered by my nurse, and the sight of her makes me vomit. If I hold back, there is a risk that I will vomit later. But I can’t can’t CAN’T vomit up those pills and get this procedure. If I vomit and get it out of the way, I will not be able to swallow the pills.

I avoid looking at my nurse, swallow the pills, and we run out of the office.

We sat for awhile in this spiritual rock garden place where my friend distracted me with witty conversation and where the air felt cleaner and had no hospital smells.

About an hour later, off we went to the urologists office. The check-in woman put me at ease. She gave me some forms to fill out. I couldn’t write. I was shaking. Okay, maybe I wasn’t so at ease.

My husband filled out the forms and we met with the urologist, who again prepared me for the possibility of a bag. I was not encouraged.

BUT, he did the procedure and saw that he could at least access what he needed to access to insert the stents “the easier way.” No guarantees, but it was a good first step, so I hung my hopes on that.

Everyone agrees that this needs to be done as soon as possible, and I’m on board with that. He was able to schedule the procedure for Friday, before he left for vacation on Saturday.

This day had done me in. We went out for dinner to a really nice restaurant and I ordered a glass of wine. I haven’t had a drink in over 10 years, and I suspect that someone with a kidney issue shouldn’t reach for a drink. So this was big for me. I got tipsy pretty quickly, and then mildly drunk. I was singing and dancing and the kids thought it was hilarious. And while I don’t like to feel out of control, I felt out of control all day. This kind of “out of control” felt much better.

The Bottom Line:

Now that it is a new day, I’m trying to focus on the good:

• I was able to see a top urologist, quickly, and he will put the stents in on Friday morning. I’ve had enough surgeries and emergencies at the end of August to know that this is no small thing – most top doctors are on vacation. So for his ability to help me, I am grateful.
• There is a tumor in my bladder. It got there by growing through the bladder wall, so they can’t remove it without leaving a hole in the wall of my bladder (which would cause more problems). That means that, for as long as that thing is there, bleeding will be part of my life.
• On the CT scan, it looks like my tumors have grown. BUT…My CEA (tumor marker) is less than half than what it was before this chemo. I don’t want to change chemo – my energy is good on this one. They agreed to continue with the current chemo for the time being and we will test again.
• I am able to take one step at a time.

Wow. What a week. So whatever is in your day, feel free to say, “At least I’m not going through THAT.” And I do hope that your problems are totally manageable. And will pass.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. While I was questioning whether God was off busy with someone else that day, I appreciate knowing that you are carrying me through all this and being His representatives on earth. Thank you.

Love and blessings,
Marie

Visit to the Emergency Department

Tuesday would normally have been a chemo day, but a series of events set me up for a procedure on Friday. While I do believe that God is with each of us, especially when we need him, I was having a hard time feeling the support….but I am getting ahead of myself.

This is long, so I will do it in two separate blog posts. This one will focus on the ED visit. If you want to skip the story and go straight to the bottom line, see the next post.

WARNING: This post contains explicit talk about bodily functions.

Sunday

I had trouble peeing all day. Drinks were going in, but nothing was coming out. Nothing.

That night, I called the oncologist on call (not mine) who recommended that I drink two more large glasses of water, wait two hours, and if nothing changes, head to the ED.

I left for the ED around 11:15. Because the boys were already asleep and it would be scary to wake up and find neither parent at home, my husband stayed home and I Ubered in alone. I was otherwise feeling good and knew that I could call him if I needed him.

Before I left, I texted my energy healer. Just before I reached the ED, she texted back that she would work on me.

This was a new ED for me, and I was impressed with the operations and the people. The check-in woman quickly assessed that I have a complicated history and decided to look it up rather than make me go through it all. Her approach and attitude were above and beyond anything I have experienced in an ED.

Very early Monday morning

My initial ED nurse, Tori, was wonderful. We bonded over kids (as in, when they wake you at 5:30 a.m, iPods are okay, but snacks are not – you have to draw the line somewhere!) and laughed alot. She gave me a cup to pee in and said, “I have to give you this cup, and you have to try, even if we know nothing is going to happen”

The floodgates opened. I am always in awe of how my energy healer works!

But I was there, so we went through the tests. Blood tests, including kidney function, which was fine. Ultrasound, to figure out if my bladder was actually empty. (They couldn’t tell.) And then the resident doctor in charge of my care wanted to do a CT scan.

I fought this scan. I argued that I was due for a scan in two weeks and I hate extra radiation. The resident doctor thought I was being ridiculous – I’ve had so many, what was one more scan? I wanted to flip him off. He listed lots of low-probability but scary outcomes. I’m used to playing the odds, and I’m feeling strong these days so pushed back on them all. He pointed out that I might need a stent and waiting two weeks could endanger my health. That resonated somewhere deep within that I didn’t want to acknowledge, but that internal vibration made me consider it a little.

I told him that I would call my husband, and he asked what information I would get from that.

“He’s a radiologist.” Thankfully, that shut him up and he walked away for awhile so I could figure this out. I called my husband for his opinion, as well as the oncologist on call. They both said it could go either way.  I finally gave in and did the scan.

The CT tech was super nice and made that procedure go as smoothly as ever, and when I returned, I asked for a bottle of water to help flush the contrast out of my body. The gentleman helping me told me that they didn’t have bottled water but he could get a pitcher of water for me. I cringed, thinking that he was going to get it from the bathroom sink, but when he returned with the pitcher, he told me that it was reverse osmosis and it actually tasted really clean. Life was looking up.

Time for the shift change, so I had a new resident doctor and a new nurse in charge of me. The new resident doctor told me that the CT scan showed tumor pressing on my bladder. No surprise there. She gave me my exit papers (I was really impressed with her efficiency – that part typically takes a long time), and told me to sign them and give them to the nurse when she came to disconnect my IV.

So I waited. And waited. And then, I don’t know what triggered it, but I started vomiting.

I carry bags with me, so I was prepared for this, but I needed help. I couldn’t find the trash can. The nurse call button was far out of reach. So I started yelling for help. A cleaning person came by and said he would find my nurse.

When the nurse came, she took one look at me and said, “This changes everything. We have to admit you.”

NOOOO!

I tried to explain that vomiting is just what I do in a medical setting. I showed her the 15 bags that I carry with me. No dice.

She left and the resident appeared, who explained that they needed to admit me and if I left, it would be against medical advice. Fine with me. It was after 3 a.m. I wanted to go home.

The nurse returned and asked if I wanted my IV to be disconnected now. As opposed to when??? She said, “Well, in case you are admitted.”

“No. Disconnect me now please. I am going home.” I had to reiterate this a few times, but she finally disconnected me.

“The attending physician would like to talk with you.”

“Fine.”

More waiting. Then my nurse took me to where the attending was. As we walked there, I noticed that I was the ONLY patient remaining in the ED. All the other beds were neatly made and ready for the next influx. All the doctors and nurses were far, far away, all in one area, typing on their computers and iPhones. I waited awhile for the attending, then said, “I’m just going to leave.” I signed the papers that I had and headed out.

I was finally free, and hoped that I didn’t need to return. When I got into the Uber, the driver offered me a breath mint. At first I declined, then remembered that maybe I needed one…..