Piles and piles of food: turkey, dressing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, peas, rolls, green bean casserole, corn, sweet tea and I don't even remember what else! Food galore! And yet, I ate almost nothing.
The worst part of Thanksgiving is when you can't have any. My appetite went out the door that day. I munched on some food, forced more food down my throat, and told my mom that if I ate anymore, I would be sick. And just like that, my Thanksgiving meal was over. I was more frustrated than you can imagine. Thankfully, I still got to enjoy the time being with my family, which is ultimately more important than the food.
Since Wednesday, I have not left the house. Is it just me or are the rooms getting smaller??
But now! I'm leaving to go to Joanne's to buy fabric. :] Yay!
-Andrea
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
PICC vs. Pliers
Wow. Scary and funny at the same time. So at the end of the PICC line is a screw-like apparatus where a syringe or antibiotic dispenser are able to screw on to it. This is a normal thing. What's NOT normal is not being able to UNSCREW it after the antibiotic dosage is over... and that's what just happened here.
My mom hooked on the antibiotic tubing at 10:30. 11:30 rolls around and the antibiotic is done. I'm sitting in the spare bedroom working an online crossword puzzle. "Mom, what's a 3-letter word for 'Ill-mannered irresponsible man'?" "'Man'?" "Tried it, no. Guess again..." While I was thinking, she's trying to unhook the tubing from my arm, without much luck. This is not really that unusual seeing as my mom has arthritis troubles and has sore hands and wrists sometimes. So I try. Nope. Hmm... we keep trying but still no luck. Time to wake the man of the family, but even HE can't unscrew it. "That means it's time to get out the pliers." EXCUSE ME?! Pliers twisting on a piece of plastic that is attached to tubing going into my artery? Haha good one Dad....."
Not a joke. He comes back with those shiny, metal pliers and my eyes widen. I foresaw horrific images of awful tugs and my PICC line coming out. But Dad was very careful and got it off successfully. WHEW....
So that was my excitement that I could have gone without. And that explains my adrenaline rush and the reason I'm still up at 12:11 on Thanksgiving morning.
Yum Turkey-Day! Let's hope I have an appetite later today and can actually eat something. I do love Thanksgiving...
But for now, sleep.
-Andrea
P.S.: The word on the crossword puzzle was "cad." *shrugs*
My mom hooked on the antibiotic tubing at 10:30. 11:30 rolls around and the antibiotic is done. I'm sitting in the spare bedroom working an online crossword puzzle. "Mom, what's a 3-letter word for 'Ill-mannered irresponsible man'?" "'Man'?" "Tried it, no. Guess again..." While I was thinking, she's trying to unhook the tubing from my arm, without much luck. This is not really that unusual seeing as my mom has arthritis troubles and has sore hands and wrists sometimes. So I try. Nope. Hmm... we keep trying but still no luck. Time to wake the man of the family, but even HE can't unscrew it. "That means it's time to get out the pliers." EXCUSE ME?! Pliers twisting on a piece of plastic that is attached to tubing going into my artery? Haha good one Dad....."
Not a joke. He comes back with those shiny, metal pliers and my eyes widen. I foresaw horrific images of awful tugs and my PICC line coming out. But Dad was very careful and got it off successfully. WHEW....
So that was my excitement that I could have gone without. And that explains my adrenaline rush and the reason I'm still up at 12:11 on Thanksgiving morning.
Yum Turkey-Day! Let's hope I have an appetite later today and can actually eat something. I do love Thanksgiving...
But for now, sleep.
-Andrea
P.S.: The word on the crossword puzzle was "cad." *shrugs*
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Oh the Irony
I go into the hospital feeling fine. I leave feeling like crap. Ooooh the irony. Is this something I picked up from the hospital? There were very ill children in the rooms surrounding me. All it took was one germ crawling across the hall, under my door, and onto ANYTHING that I drank, ate, or took via IVs. Or is this something I picked up from the boyfriend? He's been sick too. Or did he get it from me? Or did HE get it from the hospital when he visited me? OR is it my sinus infection gone bad? The world may never know.
Regardless, the end result: I'm sick. How can someone on IV antibiotics get sick?? Not sure, but I did. lol. Naturally. :P
Stuffy nose, hacky and chesty cough, tired, and dizzy on occasions. Everyone says that sleep is the key but with these IVs, sleep is still inevitable. Sure, I get more sleep at home than I did in the hospital, seeing as no one is checking my vitals every hour, but sleep is still interrupted. And I'm REALLY tired of being couped up in the house, which isn't helping anything. Getting anxious. asdkjhgakldkjf.
I know it sounds like I'm complaining, but I'm not trying to. More of just commenting to myself on my blog. Keeping a personal record of my health and noting the inevitability and irony of my staying sick until my IV comes out. But, to make things EVEN more interesting, if my PFTs are worse than before I got the PICC put in, then the PICC stays in. That would not be optimum in my personal opinion. We shall see.
We shall see.
-Andrea
This was the PICC when I had it put in. It look a little different now but the same idea.
Regardless, the end result: I'm sick. How can someone on IV antibiotics get sick?? Not sure, but I did. lol. Naturally. :P
Stuffy nose, hacky and chesty cough, tired, and dizzy on occasions. Everyone says that sleep is the key but with these IVs, sleep is still inevitable. Sure, I get more sleep at home than I did in the hospital, seeing as no one is checking my vitals every hour, but sleep is still interrupted. And I'm REALLY tired of being couped up in the house, which isn't helping anything. Getting anxious. asdkjhgakldkjf.
I know it sounds like I'm complaining, but I'm not trying to. More of just commenting to myself on my blog. Keeping a personal record of my health and noting the inevitability and irony of my staying sick until my IV comes out. But, to make things EVEN more interesting, if my PFTs are worse than before I got the PICC put in, then the PICC stays in. That would not be optimum in my personal opinion. We shall see.
We shall see.
-Andrea
This was the PICC when I had it put in. It look a little different now but the same idea.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Reason #581 I'm not going to Med School
So I've got the PICC line in and they have to change the dressing (bandages) on it every week. Today was the day. Did I mention the tape is *extremely* painful to take off? And it makes me really nervous when the nurse peels it back because it's so close to the LINE GOING INTO MY ARTERY? I thought I was going to be sick today when she changed it. Pain + fear = revisiting lunch. This nurse is fantastic, don't get me wrong, but my stomach has been less than iron these past few days. Luckily, lunch kept it's natural route south and I was ok. The same thing happened sophomore year when having my annual blo.od work done. They pull an INSANE amount of blo.od from my arm. Plus it hurts and I'm anxious... and I remember that there were 3 prisoners in the room because one of them was pregnant... that didn't help my situation.
Anyway. Med school. Not for me. Noooo siree. If I could even make it through med school, the only field I would have any desire to work in, I can't. So no thanks!
However, I do have VERY preliminary, yet nevertheless exciting news. I'm in contact with the director of fundraising in the East Texas/NW LA for the CF foundation and I'm coordinating a meet with her to talk about what the Magnet soccer teams can do to raise money for research! I'm *BEYOND* excited. I had always wanted to do something but always found options out of my reach. Then dearest Alissa told me that she wants to help out and we're going to get the soccer team, and school clubs, to organize and work a walk/run or something. I can't wait to see what this team can do, on and off the field!!! :]
That's the brief update for today.
-Andrea
Anyway. Med school. Not for me. Noooo siree. If I could even make it through med school, the only field I would have any desire to work in, I can't. So no thanks!
However, I do have VERY preliminary, yet nevertheless exciting news. I'm in contact with the director of fundraising in the East Texas/NW LA for the CF foundation and I'm coordinating a meet with her to talk about what the Magnet soccer teams can do to raise money for research! I'm *BEYOND* excited. I had always wanted to do something but always found options out of my reach. Then dearest Alissa told me that she wants to help out and we're going to get the soccer team, and school clubs, to organize and work a walk/run or something. I can't wait to see what this team can do, on and off the field!!! :]
That's the brief update for today.
-Andrea
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Ahhh Break
Even though I'm "home-bound" and ill, I still have yet to slow life down. I got home from room 521 at 4:30 on Wednesday. I grabbed some food and made it to practice by 5. I went home, ate dinner, and was sick. Not a good sign.
Thursday morning I went to school. I came home after that and took a niiiice loooong nap before my soccer game. (No I didn't play. It was only a scrimmage that we won 9-0. Not worth risking having a main artery pulled out..) Then came home, watched TV, was sick again, and went to sleep. Friday I woke up and went to school AGAIN. Did I mention I did *nothing* at school on Thursday or Friday. Excuse me, I took notes in my Chem 2 class, but that was it for a full day of school. (YES, IT WAS WORTH IT, MRS. CLEMENTS! lol) I went to go see Twilight after school, came home, and didn't sleep well.
So here it is Saturday morning, almost afternoon. Overall, I'm still not feeling well, but I'm being patient. For some reason, my arm is sore today. *shrugs*
So not a very exciting update but I needed something to do that didn't involve me getting up and cleaning my room, which I'm about to go do. I'm not feeling well at the moment and don't exactly want to be moving around much. But alas. Things I must do anyway.
Maybe with this week of rest, I'll feel better! I have been instructed to have a good day today and that's what I plan on doing.
-Annie
Thursday morning I went to school. I came home after that and took a niiiice loooong nap before my soccer game. (No I didn't play. It was only a scrimmage that we won 9-0. Not worth risking having a main artery pulled out..) Then came home, watched TV, was sick again, and went to sleep. Friday I woke up and went to school AGAIN. Did I mention I did *nothing* at school on Thursday or Friday. Excuse me, I took notes in my Chem 2 class, but that was it for a full day of school. (YES, IT WAS WORTH IT, MRS. CLEMENTS! lol) I went to go see Twilight after school, came home, and didn't sleep well.
So here it is Saturday morning, almost afternoon. Overall, I'm still not feeling well, but I'm being patient. For some reason, my arm is sore today. *shrugs*
So not a very exciting update but I needed something to do that didn't involve me getting up and cleaning my room, which I'm about to go do. I'm not feeling well at the moment and don't exactly want to be moving around much. But alas. Things I must do anyway.
Maybe with this week of rest, I'll feel better! I have been instructed to have a good day today and that's what I plan on doing.
-Annie
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