Today I had my first day of pre-transplant testing. These tests are all basically just to make sure that if I receive a transplant my body is healthy enough going in to handle the chemotherapy. It was a long day, mainly because I was really tired all day today. I didn't sleep very well last night, and I had to be at the hospital at 8am today. It's really weird, and a little surreal to be on the patient side of things. Not that I've never been a patient before, it's just that at home, I know Providence like the back of my hand...here, not so much. Northwestern is a HUGE facility. Huge. And I don't know every other person I see in the hallway like I do at home.
Which leads me to my biggest WTF moment of the day today...Northwestern is not a latex free facility! Really? In 2010 there are still latex gloves EVERYWHERE! Every place I went I had to say "I'm allergic to latex" and watch as they went to get a box of vinyl gloves. Yeesh! Luckily my allergy isn't very severe, I can't imagine if I had a full blown, throat closing type of reaction. I'd be totally screwed.
So here's the list of what I had done today...and why...
* blood draw....they drew (not kidding) like 20 tubes of blood. They are checking for a million things,
including clotting factors, pregnancy, hepatitis, HIV, other viral things like CMV, HSV, etc.
* sinus CT...this is just to check to make sure I don't have a sinus infection before chemo. If I have one,
it's no big deal, they just know to treat it first.
* chest x-ray...basic check of heart/lungs. No TB, pneumonia, etc. Also gives them a good baseline.
* dental exam...same idea as the CT, just making sure there aren't any dental issues that need to be
addressed before chemo/transplant.
* EKG... checks for rhythm abnormalities.
* vein check...this is nothing like what it sounds like. Basically I just met with the people in the blood
center (like the infusion center at home, but all they do is blood and blood products). They explained
about the central line I'll have placed and showed me the machine they use to harvest the stem cells.
I think that's it for today. Up next...MRI of head and neck. NOT my favorite thing at all, but I have my Klonopin ready on hand!
Chicago is lovely. So different than when I was here in January. It's a little too hot and humid for my taste, which is keeping me from doing a whole lot of exploring at this point, but as long as I take frequent AC breaks my MS symptoms seem to be staying in check. I of course miss my boys like crazy. It's the hardest part of this whole thing to be away from Mason, but it's important to both Todd and I that we keep his life as normal as possible through all this.
That's all for now...to be continued....
May 24, 2010
May 23, 2010
May 22, 2010
18 months!
I know, three blog posts in one day...stop the insanity!
Anyway, I will miss the actual day, but on Tuesday Mason will be 18 months old. Talk about insanity! As most of you probably know, we did monthly pictures for his first year, and now we've graduated to every 6 months. Here's a peek at the pics...not sure what's up with the tongue, but as you can see, he was sticking it out in over half the shots!
Happy B-day, Bug!
We also spent some time last weekend at our favorite little girl's birthday party. I can't believe my little Bug is already 8! Mason had a blast at her H2Oasis party!!!
Summertime...almost
Our weather has been so crazy the last few months, but it seems as though summer might have finally reached Alaska. Mason LOVES being outside. Actually, loves isn't even a strong enough word for how crazy this child is about being outside, but I don't really have another word in my vocabulary at this moment to describe it. We have been spending lots of time in the yard, going for walks, blowing bubbles, playing at the park, etc, etc, etc.
Mason still also loves his daycare. He still only goes two days a week, but we are thinking about increasing to three once he is able to move up into the toddler room. Speaking of the toddler room, Mason is currently in the baby room, which is from 6-18 months. He is the oldest kiddo in there, and by far the most active, so he gets a little bored sometimes. Now that he's 18 months he will start transitioning into the toddler room, where he'll be once he's 19 months. He is so fascinated by the toddler room, we have a hard time in the mornings having to walk past it to get to the baby room. Friday he actually spent all day with the toddlers, and even got to be the Shabbat helper! I wish I could have seen it, it sounds like he was super cute up with Mr. Joe lighting the candles and saying the blessing over the Challah.
Being back to work at the hospital has been great for me. I was super nervous going back, I was really afraid that I had forgotten everything, but that didn't happen. My schedule is set now, which is SO much better for me, and if I want more than 20 hours a week I (so far) have no problem getting extra hours. I really feel like I'm using my brain again at work, which is something I was definitely lacking before. The only downside is that all that brain usage leaves little time for reading at work, so my book consumption has decreased significantly since I'm not at the clinic anymore. It's a good trade off.
Here's my little man, learning to blow bubbles in the yard. He's actually pretty good at it, as long as it's with this small bubble wand. And here he is in our closet with my hot pink shoes on. He was so proud of himself for getting them out of box and onto his feet all by himself. Todd was only slightly concerned that maybe it was time for some more time in the "Man Cave" with Daddy.
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