Getting Settled at Home - Part 2 - October 1-5

Since I really wasn't home very long between hospital stays (not even 26 hours), I really never got to feel "settled". So now I should be able to do so, right?

When we arrived home, we discovered that the TV we ordered had arrived. Since Donna's husband had run new wires to move DirecTV from another room to the family room, they came in and helped Denise set up the TV (it was so hard for me to not be able to do that myself), so they could verify that everything was set up right with the satellite. We had a little trouble figuring out the TV setup, but the folks at DirecTV were helpful and soon we verified that everything was working well.

When I came home it was four days after chemo, and it continued to do its job to kill my immune system as well as to work to reduce the swelling in my lymph nodes and body, though that was not obvious yet. I had regular issues with feeling nauseous, but the medicines that they gave me helped to take care of that. In addition, I was quite weak.

On Friday evening, we had to call the cancer hotline number at the hospital because I had heartburn. They said that I had already taken the max dose for omeprazole for the day, so my only option was Tums. After Denise's Dad went to the store to pick some up for me, I did get some relief.

On Saturday late afternoon, we had to call the cancer hotline number at the hospital again because my throat was sore, and I was having a hard time swallowing. It seemed that my thrush was acting up, so the doctor prescribed a lidocaine oral solution to help numb the throat and esophagus. Denise had to wait for what seemed like forever at Walgreen's for the prescription. When she finally returned, the solution was so thick that gargling was nearly impossible.

This whole time I was running a low-grade temperature, which reached 101.8 Sunday night. It was nearly impossible for me to eat because it felt like there were little hot dogs in my throat from the thrush. And overall I was just feeling lousy.

Monday morning we called the hotline again, and they told us to go the ER, where they would be expecting us. Denise gathered some things for me, and we left. Once again, I did not feel "settled" because I was not feeling good most of the time I was home. Guess that would have to wait. Again.