Wahoo.... no more IV's!! Had the last one this morning!!
It wasn't all that bad, even if it was under a local, but I did get a little bit of sedation - not much - more to relax me. Dr. Salvian came into the pre-op area and introduced himself, very nice surgeon and explained the process a little bit, which was nice. The nurses were great and I actually was taken into the operating room early - wahoo.
Onto the not so skinny operating table and then they started to attach the heart monitor equipment and gave me lots of warm blankets. And aligned up the camera that would be used to ensure everything went into the right place. Dr. Salvian actually was the one to drape me and put up the shield and the nurses checked on me quite a bit. He gave me LOTS of freezing and said that if I felt anything, to let him know. And I DID!! Told him I could feel whatever he was doing and he instantly gave me more freezing. He uses staples rather than sutures, so I have to book an appt with my family doctor to have them taken out on June 8 (which means I should phone her and make an appt after I finish this posting!).
For pain, he suggested T3's - I reminded him I am allergic to codeine. So he said extra strength Tylenol along with my own pain meds - sounds good to me - and yes, they have been taken!
I just got a call from the cancer clinic. I see Dr. P on Tuesday at 10:20 and they have booked my chemo for June 4, no time yet. Will more than likely do the bloodwork after I see Dr. P as the paperwork might need to be updated. So we are back on schedule for the chemo. Two sessions left and then a CT scan and x-ray to see what has progressed since the last one.
Been working in my garden lots and planted a few more funky plants and 151 bulbs - all glads and one neat looking one that I can't remember the name of at the moment!!! Glad I got it all done last night as there is no way I could do it today.
8 days till the Relay for Life - I still need more donations - this is a subtle hint for those that said they would donate and go online and haven't!! I want to make my goal!!
Ciao for now and have a wonderful weekend!
Roni
Friday, May 29, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Just a small update!
Hi Everyone;
What beautiful weather we have been having here on the lower mainland - in the 20's which is nice, with a little breeze. And supposed to be like this for the next week!!!
So, have been waiting the last couple of weeks for the call to go to Vancouver General Hospital to have the portacath put in. I got the call Monday morning to say I needed to be in Wednesday at noon and the surgery would be at one in the afternoon. That was not too bad. Yeah right, they called Tuesday to say it had been bumped as the OR had been overbooked.
So, now I have to be at the hospital at 7:30am on Friday morning - leaving here around 6:45ish - yech, means getting up really early! And then the surgery is around 8:30am. So, once I am home and relaxed, will give everyone an update!
I have no details on the surgeon or the surgery. I do know how the portacath is put in - joys of the internet. It is usually done with a local - though some surgeons (and I hope the one I have) will use conscious sedation - where you are awake but asleep. Now this I like. Worried if it is just a local and I have to sneeze or twitch - they are working with my vascular system and well, you don't want a mistake!!!
Been working in my garden lots and it is getting to be pretty good looking if I do say so myself. I just got some funky plants to put in and they will go in Thursday. Also got 151 bulbs and I planted 70 of them in the front garden this afternoon and will do the rest tomorrow - all but one of them are gladiolas, the other is a perennial amaryllis so that will be interesting to see - it looks really nice on the packaging!!!
A gal used to work with in a previous job, is coming over on Sunday and taking some pictures of the garden and my kitchen for her interior design site and doing a little blurb on me and putting the link to my Relay for Life site, so if her readers wish to donate, they can do so.
And if any of the readers here wish to donate, here is the information - any and all funds are welcome!
Ok, here are the direction:
www.cancer.ca/relay
Pick province - BC
Pick community - Coquitlam
Look for Team on right side - Country Dancing Boobies
Click on my name - Veronica McIlveen
and then just donate whatever you wish. Most I have received from one person is $300 and that was kewl!!
If you don't ask, you don't get! Research, information services, support programs, advocate for public policies.
Did you know that 38% of women and 44% of men in Canada will develop cancer in their lifetime?
So, now time to go and relax and watch a little telly, then curl up in bed for a good sleep!
Ciao for now
Roni
What beautiful weather we have been having here on the lower mainland - in the 20's which is nice, with a little breeze. And supposed to be like this for the next week!!!
So, have been waiting the last couple of weeks for the call to go to Vancouver General Hospital to have the portacath put in. I got the call Monday morning to say I needed to be in Wednesday at noon and the surgery would be at one in the afternoon. That was not too bad. Yeah right, they called Tuesday to say it had been bumped as the OR had been overbooked.
So, now I have to be at the hospital at 7:30am on Friday morning - leaving here around 6:45ish - yech, means getting up really early! And then the surgery is around 8:30am. So, once I am home and relaxed, will give everyone an update!
I have no details on the surgeon or the surgery. I do know how the portacath is put in - joys of the internet. It is usually done with a local - though some surgeons (and I hope the one I have) will use conscious sedation - where you are awake but asleep. Now this I like. Worried if it is just a local and I have to sneeze or twitch - they are working with my vascular system and well, you don't want a mistake!!!
Been working in my garden lots and it is getting to be pretty good looking if I do say so myself. I just got some funky plants to put in and they will go in Thursday. Also got 151 bulbs and I planted 70 of them in the front garden this afternoon and will do the rest tomorrow - all but one of them are gladiolas, the other is a perennial amaryllis so that will be interesting to see - it looks really nice on the packaging!!!
A gal used to work with in a previous job, is coming over on Sunday and taking some pictures of the garden and my kitchen for her interior design site and doing a little blurb on me and putting the link to my Relay for Life site, so if her readers wish to donate, they can do so.
And if any of the readers here wish to donate, here is the information - any and all funds are welcome!
Ok, here are the direction:
www.cancer.ca/relay
Pick province - BC
Pick community - Coquitlam
Look for Team on right side - Country Dancing Boobies
Click on my name - Veronica McIlveen
and then just donate whatever you wish. Most I have received from one person is $300 and that was kewl!!
If you don't ask, you don't get! Research, information services, support programs, advocate for public policies.
Did you know that 38% of women and 44% of men in Canada will develop cancer in their lifetime?
So, now time to go and relax and watch a little telly, then curl up in bed for a good sleep!
Ciao for now
Roni
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Free at last!!!
Hi Everyone!
Yep - I am outta the hospital! Got home Thursday afternoon and finally getting around to writing on the blog!
I was tired of the hospital after 5 days of really bad food - some of the worst I have ever had in all of my hospital stays!!! And home to my own bed - that is what I sure missed. Even though I did have my own pillow and blanket - just not the same!
I am still waiting to hear from Dr. Pansegrau's secretary when my appointment is at Vancouver General for the port to be put in - so looking forward to it - no more hunting for veins and being poked!! Once that is in and healed, then the chemo will be rescheduled. This now puts me back about 3 weeks give or take.
Just wanted to say thank you to all the get well wishes on here and on Facebook as well as my email. Took me about 3 days to go through all of it. And thank you to Meghan for keeping everyone up to date on here. Saved a lot of phone calls! Though there was the odd person who didn't know!
Will keep everyone abreast as to when I have the surgery and how I am doing! But also, will let everyone know how the Relay for Life goes!! We have two teams this year and I am very proud of that. Donations are still being accepted - the more we raise, the better chance of saving a life! www.cancer.ca then click on what you want to go - Relay for Life, then community - Coquitlam, then look up either Veronica McIlveen or Veronica McIlveen 2. Or by team name - Country Dancing Boobies or Country Dancing Boobies 2 and feel free to donate!!! And we will be doing another hot dog sale in August, more details to follow on that!
Cheers
Roni
Yep - I am outta the hospital! Got home Thursday afternoon and finally getting around to writing on the blog!
I was tired of the hospital after 5 days of really bad food - some of the worst I have ever had in all of my hospital stays!!! And home to my own bed - that is what I sure missed. Even though I did have my own pillow and blanket - just not the same!
I am still waiting to hear from Dr. Pansegrau's secretary when my appointment is at Vancouver General for the port to be put in - so looking forward to it - no more hunting for veins and being poked!! Once that is in and healed, then the chemo will be rescheduled. This now puts me back about 3 weeks give or take.
Just wanted to say thank you to all the get well wishes on here and on Facebook as well as my email. Took me about 3 days to go through all of it. And thank you to Meghan for keeping everyone up to date on here. Saved a lot of phone calls! Though there was the odd person who didn't know!
Will keep everyone abreast as to when I have the surgery and how I am doing! But also, will let everyone know how the Relay for Life goes!! We have two teams this year and I am very proud of that. Donations are still being accepted - the more we raise, the better chance of saving a life! www.cancer.ca then click on what you want to go - Relay for Life, then community - Coquitlam, then look up either Veronica McIlveen or Veronica McIlveen 2. Or by team name - Country Dancing Boobies or Country Dancing Boobies 2 and feel free to donate!!! And we will be doing another hot dog sale in August, more details to follow on that!
Cheers
Roni
Thursday, May 14, 2009
She's been sprung!!!
Mom called me this afternoon at around 1:20pm so say that she was going home!!!! Her counts were up to 1.2 which is great news!!! Mm is going to call me a bit later, so I will be able to update a bit more in a while.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Freedom...Maybe...
Well after a long visit today with Mom, sitting with her through the first bag of blood, we have some good news!!!! Mom's neutrophil numbers are going up :). When Mom first went to the hospital, her neutrophil. numbers were at 0.1. They were up yesterday to 0.3 and today they are up to 0.7. If they get up to 1 or higher then Mom should be able to go home tomorrow (Thursday). Mom is keeping her fingers crossed that they go up and that she is able to go home-she's getting a wee bit stir crazy!!!!'
The transfusion went ahead this afternoon as planned. The first bag of blood was hooked up at around 2:45pm this afternoon and took 2 1/2 hours to go through. Of course, it wasn't helping that her machine kept stopping every few minutes saying there was a blockage somewhere, when this would happen, Mom would ring for her nurse to come in to take a look at it and as soon as she would press the button, the "blockage" would clear up on its own and start running again. Thankfully, Mom's nurse was great and managed to move her IV needle around a bit so that the blood would flow more freely. Between the two bags of blood used for the transfusion, Mom and I took a trip down to the cafeteria to go get some EDIBLE food, as Mom's dinner was less than desirable-the smell was enough to make Mom, myself, and Mom's roommate gag until they took it away. Shortly before 7pm they started the second bag and if all went well, it should have finished up around 10pm this evening.
Dr. Pansegrau came by again to see Mom and to let her know a couple things. They have put her next chemo treatment off for a couple weeks so that Mom can get the portacath put in (by the sounds of it, he has put a rush on it to get this put in, as Mom doesn't have many-if any-viable veins left for IV's/blood work) and to also give her body a bit of a break.
The transfusion went ahead this afternoon as planned. The first bag of blood was hooked up at around 2:45pm this afternoon and took 2 1/2 hours to go through. Of course, it wasn't helping that her machine kept stopping every few minutes saying there was a blockage somewhere, when this would happen, Mom would ring for her nurse to come in to take a look at it and as soon as she would press the button, the "blockage" would clear up on its own and start running again. Thankfully, Mom's nurse was great and managed to move her IV needle around a bit so that the blood would flow more freely. Between the two bags of blood used for the transfusion, Mom and I took a trip down to the cafeteria to go get some EDIBLE food, as Mom's dinner was less than desirable-the smell was enough to make Mom, myself, and Mom's roommate gag until they took it away. Shortly before 7pm they started the second bag and if all went well, it should have finished up around 10pm this evening.
Dr. Pansegrau came by again to see Mom and to let her know a couple things. They have put her next chemo treatment off for a couple weeks so that Mom can get the portacath put in (by the sounds of it, he has put a rush on it to get this put in, as Mom doesn't have many-if any-viable veins left for IV's/blood work) and to also give her body a bit of a break.
Transfusion, blood counts, etc.
Well I was with my Mom yesterday when Dr. Pansegrau came by to see her. Some good news is that her neutrophil numbers went up to 0.3 (from 0.1). While this is good news, it's still not the kind of jump in numbers they were hoping for. So, because of this Mom was given two options:
-She could just wait and see if the numbers will go up on their own and NOT have transfusion; however, she would still need to have one in the future as an out-patient.
-She could have the transfusion today and get it done and over with.
Mom made the decision to have to done today rather than having to come back as an out-patient-might as well get it done now while she is in the hospital. So Dr. P brought all the paperwork for Mom to sign. So at some point today Mom will be having the transfusion done.
-She could just wait and see if the numbers will go up on their own and NOT have transfusion; however, she would still need to have one in the future as an out-patient.
-She could have the transfusion today and get it done and over with.
Mom made the decision to have to done today rather than having to come back as an out-patient-might as well get it done now while she is in the hospital. So Dr. P brought all the paperwork for Mom to sign. So at some point today Mom will be having the transfusion done.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
She's got a room!!!
Hey guys,
Just a quick update to let you all know that Mom now has a room of her own. She was moved at around 1am last night to the oncology floor. For those of you who would like to come visit her, she is in room 12. Mom would love visitors as she is BORED, BORED, BORED just sitting in her bed :)
Just a quick update to let you all know that Mom now has a room of her own. She was moved at around 1am last night to the oncology floor. For those of you who would like to come visit her, she is in room 12. Mom would love visitors as she is BORED, BORED, BORED just sitting in her bed :)
Monday, May 11, 2009
And another update
I spoke with my Mom a couple hours ago and she gave me a bit more of an update. At that time she was still in the pediatric area.
Her oncologist, Dr. Pansegrau, came by to see her and check how she was doing. Mom talked to him about the difficulties the nurses/lab technicians were having with getting veins to do blood work, so she asked him about the possibility of getting a pic-line put in. Dr. Pansegrau said they would be more likely to put in a portacatheter rather than a pic-line. So that may be done in the next couple of days. Dr. Pansegrau also said there was a good chance they would need to do a blood transfusion, as Mom's hemoglobin levels aren't going up at all, and neither are any of the other levels that they want to go back up.
Mom's next chemo treatment was supposed to be next Monday; however, it has since been moved until next Thursday instead.
Here is another photo of Mom in her newly decorated face mask. Brian and one of Mom's nurses drew this :)
Her oncologist, Dr. Pansegrau, came by to see her and check how she was doing. Mom talked to him about the difficulties the nurses/lab technicians were having with getting veins to do blood work, so she asked him about the possibility of getting a pic-line put in. Dr. Pansegrau said they would be more likely to put in a portacatheter rather than a pic-line. So that may be done in the next couple of days. Dr. Pansegrau also said there was a good chance they would need to do a blood transfusion, as Mom's hemoglobin levels aren't going up at all, and neither are any of the other levels that they want to go back up.
Mom's next chemo treatment was supposed to be next Monday; however, it has since been moved until next Thursday instead.
Here is another photo of Mom in her newly decorated face mask. Brian and one of Mom's nurses drew this :)
Well I am home from visiting Mom in the hospital. She is still in the pediatrics area but was told that she MAY have a bed by later today. Mom has been going stir-crazy in her room, as she can't leave the door to the room open, but she can't close it all the way either. So we talked to her nurse and asked if Mom was allowed to go for a walk as long as she had a mask on. The nurse wasn't too sure so she went to find out and then came back with a HEAVY-DUTY mask for Mom to wear. So on went the mask and we took a walk up to the cafeteria to see if they had anything interesting up there, not much was up there but that's OK, Mom just needed to get out of her room and walk a little bit.
Here is a picture of Mom in her mask-Brian suggested that Mom draw a happy face on it, I suggested lips :)
Chantal-you had asked what the normal range for the blood counts are, to which I can say I have no idea. I can get Mom to ask and find out though when she see the Dr later today.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Another Update
hey guys,
So I talked with my Mom a couple hours ago and she was still in the pediatric isolation ward of the ER waiting for a bed. The oncologist on call there told her it could be a while before one becomes available as she has 3 patients in the ER waiting to go up to the oncology floor. Mom's fever is now gone, which is good news. And a quick correction to make, Mom's white blood count wasn't at 0.1 as i had previously mentioned, it is at 1.4. What is actually at 0.1 is her neutrophil level, which is what has the Dr concerned. She has been told that she will likely be in the hospital for 3-4 days.
Mom is allowed visitors in the ER, although, I am not sure what the rules are for times and numbers of people.
That's all for now... Will update more in a bit
So I talked with my Mom a couple hours ago and she was still in the pediatric isolation ward of the ER waiting for a bed. The oncologist on call there told her it could be a while before one becomes available as she has 3 patients in the ER waiting to go up to the oncology floor. Mom's fever is now gone, which is good news. And a quick correction to make, Mom's white blood count wasn't at 0.1 as i had previously mentioned, it is at 1.4. What is actually at 0.1 is her neutrophil level, which is what has the Dr concerned. She has been told that she will likely be in the hospital for 3-4 days.
Mom is allowed visitors in the ER, although, I am not sure what the rules are for times and numbers of people.
That's all for now... Will update more in a bit
Just a quick Update
Hi Everyone,
Just a quick update to let you all know what is going on. Shortly after Mom, Patrick and I got home from the Hot Dog Fundraiser, Mom started to feel like she was getting a fever. She took her temp. and it was at 39.1C-she is supposed to go to the hospital if it gets to 38.5C. It stayed at 39.1 for a couple of hours and so Mom made the decision to go to emergency. Once they got there, Mom's temp. was taken again and it was still at 39.1C, so she was put in the pediatric isolation room of the ER. They did some blood work and cultures to get her blood counts to see if there was an infection or ???? The counts came back and her white blood count was at 0.1-not a number anyone wants it to be at. So they have given Mom two rounds of IV antibiotics and she is currently waiting for a bed to become available in the Oncology unit.
I will update more as we find out whats going on.
Just a quick update to let you all know what is going on. Shortly after Mom, Patrick and I got home from the Hot Dog Fundraiser, Mom started to feel like she was getting a fever. She took her temp. and it was at 39.1C-she is supposed to go to the hospital if it gets to 38.5C. It stayed at 39.1 for a couple of hours and so Mom made the decision to go to emergency. Once they got there, Mom's temp. was taken again and it was still at 39.1C, so she was put in the pediatric isolation room of the ER. They did some blood work and cultures to get her blood counts to see if there was an infection or ???? The counts came back and her white blood count was at 0.1-not a number anyone wants it to be at. So they have given Mom two rounds of IV antibiotics and she is currently waiting for a bed to become available in the Oncology unit.
I will update more as we find out whats going on.
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