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 :)
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