Friday the Thirteenth

Yesterday I had my subclavian catheter put in my chest and since it was a surgical procedure, it took all morning long.  After it was put in they sent me to xray to make sure it was properly placed, with no punctured lung.  It looked good.  Very sore, in fact it felt like I had been in a knife fight!  I was relieved it was over and happy that my arms will not be getting alot of sticks now.  Nine sticks this week.  There will still be some arm sticks during my hospital stay, just a few every week that need to be very accurate and so they can’t come out of my line.  The other test was a complete pulmonary function test which just cracks me up.  The technician was funny, and it’s just the manner in which it is done.  Yolanda and I were friends by the time it was over, and she made me promise to look her up when I got out.  She asked me if I was Catholic and when I said no, she said “That’s ok, God loves everybody!”  She held my hands and told me I was going to be fine.  These people at MD just amaze me…it is one of the reasons you let them do mean things to you….they truly care.

For dinner we met Kelli and Lynzi at Cyclone Anaya’s for Mexican food which was really really good. And we had a great time with them!  They are off to Dallas for the weekend, so we were so happy to spend the evening with them.

Today I had my social worker appointment.  This was very informative and helpful.  Clemencia is my social worker.  We discussed my advanced directives and medical power of attorney (the motto is “Prepare for the worst, Expect the best”),and everything like parking, support groups, learning center, etc.  Here are a few interesting facts we learned:

There is an airport shuttle to MDA from both airports.

Where to park that isn’t so expensive.

MDA has a cutting-edge integrative medicine center.  A few of the 75 programs available include yoga, Pilates, laughter yoga, expressive arts, support groups, meditation, spirituality, acupuncture, oncology massage, music therapy, nutrition consultation, and cooking demonstrations.

The Learning Center is a huge consumer health and medical library.

Cyber Center:  no charge for copies, fax,  computers/printers/scanning, email access, office supplies.

Individual and marital counseling is available.

This one is cool:  “Angel Flight” program, where pilots with private planes provide flights for patients back and forth to the hospital free of charge….they just donate that service!

After this appointment we met with my PA, Erin, and then my stem cell transplant doctor, Dr. Chitra Hosing. They got a final weight and height measurement to determine my chemo dose, I signed all the consent forms, and she told me I passed all my tests with flying colors.  YAY!!!! I am off for the weekend with great news!