3rd time lucky! The marathon hydration by IV started at 6am on the 5th September, Heathers 8th Birthday!!!
The plan is to hydrate for 12 hours before the chemotherapy drug" Cytoxan" is administered once a day for 2 days, followed by 5 days of fludarabine, 7 days in total. Today is known as day -7. The day started with the alarm failing to go off, leaving elaine rushing around at 540am. she was supposed to be on the ward at 5...oops!....elaine arrived a little late and lucky for her, so did all her fluids from the pharmacy. The fluids arrived at 630am.
A few tears were experience during the day, mainly due to seeing all the lovely photos on face book of Heathers special day and the reality that this is really happening. Missing home and the kids already.
530 in the evening and the Cytoxan was administered and within 15 minutes Elaine was feeling nauseous and started to wretch. The nurse was very good and said that this was totally normal and gave her some anti nausea meds, which promptly knocked elaine out for the evening. only trouble was that the nurses had to ensure that elaine voided her bladder every 2 hours. easier said then done!! trying to wake up while heavily sedated, unplug the drip stand maneuver around the bed and chairs to get to the bathroom and wretching all the way. oh yes and pee in a cup! Dignity soon takes a back seat when you are admitted into a hospital ward.
It was a hard night followed by another hard day (day -6), lack of sleep, fighting nausea , battling the anti nausea medications and fighting the god damn pole!!!. She dozed most of the day. We did however manage to take the pole for 3 walks around the hospital, each time fighting the nausea. Late evening she was slightly improving. Less than 17 hours to go on this chemo, then we start a new one which is slightly less toxic for 5 days.
Elaine is a trooper, she is always awake and either already showered or just about to shower by the time I arrive in the morning
Day -5 Elaine was looking better today. I've saw an improvement. She still felt nauseous, but only when she moved. Those of you who know elaine , know that not moving is not an option! She finished the cytoxan chemotherapy the night before and they started the fludarabine at 9 am but the IV hydration still remains and the loving dance with the pole still continues. (1.4 lts every 7 hours is our output!).
All in all, a good improvement. A walk in the hospital court yard in the morning, and wee sit down by a water fountain to enjoy the fresh air while wishing Helen and the boys a safe trip over the phone.
Later in the day we took another stroll in the court yard and even with our constant companion, "the pole". we managed to get some rays of sunshine along the way.
The plan is to hydrate for 12 hours before the chemotherapy drug" Cytoxan" is administered once a day for 2 days, followed by 5 days of fludarabine, 7 days in total. Today is known as day -7. The day started with the alarm failing to go off, leaving elaine rushing around at 540am. she was supposed to be on the ward at 5...oops!....elaine arrived a little late and lucky for her, so did all her fluids from the pharmacy. The fluids arrived at 630am.
A few tears were experience during the day, mainly due to seeing all the lovely photos on face book of Heathers special day and the reality that this is really happening. Missing home and the kids already.
530 in the evening and the Cytoxan was administered and within 15 minutes Elaine was feeling nauseous and started to wretch. The nurse was very good and said that this was totally normal and gave her some anti nausea meds, which promptly knocked elaine out for the evening. only trouble was that the nurses had to ensure that elaine voided her bladder every 2 hours. easier said then done!! trying to wake up while heavily sedated, unplug the drip stand maneuver around the bed and chairs to get to the bathroom and wretching all the way. oh yes and pee in a cup! Dignity soon takes a back seat when you are admitted into a hospital ward.
It was a hard night followed by another hard day (day -6), lack of sleep, fighting nausea , battling the anti nausea medications and fighting the god damn pole!!!. She dozed most of the day. We did however manage to take the pole for 3 walks around the hospital, each time fighting the nausea. Late evening she was slightly improving. Less than 17 hours to go on this chemo, then we start a new one which is slightly less toxic for 5 days.
Elaine is a trooper, she is always awake and either already showered or just about to shower by the time I arrive in the morning
Day -5 Elaine was looking better today. I've saw an improvement. She still felt nauseous, but only when she moved. Those of you who know elaine , know that not moving is not an option! She finished the cytoxan chemotherapy the night before and they started the fludarabine at 9 am but the IV hydration still remains and the loving dance with the pole still continues. (1.4 lts every 7 hours is our output!).
All in all, a good improvement. A walk in the hospital court yard in the morning, and wee sit down by a water fountain to enjoy the fresh air while wishing Helen and the boys a safe trip over the phone.
Later in the day we took another stroll in the court yard and even with our constant companion, "the pole". we managed to get some rays of sunshine along the way.
"Woo hoo". 6pm Elaine was liberated from the pole and no longer has to be woken up every 2 hours to pee. This made for a very nice stroll around the hospital.
Shhhhhh don't tell, but Elaine sneaked out the side door and walk around the lodge gardens under a beautiful red sunset before returning to the room to watch a movie. She has improved a lot but the nausea still continues to be an issue. More medication and off to bed for a well earned rest and hopefully a full nights sleep.
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