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I am not sure too many people are still reading this blog and the seeming saga of my hospitalizations. Thank you for checking and for reading what seems to be a broken record of health issues.

I was finally released from the hospital this last time on Friday, the 24th. I haven't counted and reviewed but I think I was in the hospital for 15 days total. The pandemic went on around me but I haven't been too much a part of it. Or my boys' homeschooling, or cooking or baking. It has been the strangest time of my entire life.

I have been assured that my body is having what are considered "normal" complications. These complications would be "waited out" and "watched" until they were better in most healthy people. Sadly, because I have cancer, I am not considered healthy and the doctors are working quickly to enable me to get back to chemo. So I have a strange existence right now.

I cannot eat any food so that my digestive system rests. This means that I have large bags of liquid nutrition connected through an IV (pic line) that are my nutrition for the day. I am only connected to the bag for 12 hours at night (Nurse Shawn takes care of all of this, by the way) and I am starving but the rumor is that this decreases as my body gets used to not eating. The last timeline for how long this will go is 6 weeks...but I'm not sure.

I have an IV antibiotic that I take once a day. I have two drains placed inside my body to get rid of anything that could cause a blockage or abscess. There is a chance I will get a third drain next week. This is all to make sure I don't have to go back to the hospital for more surgery.

And I have to walk 40-50 minutes a day to make sure everything is working properly.

I go back to chemo next Thursday - most likely 1/2 strength chemo as they test my body's resilience.

Right now, our lives are telemedicine appointments, a few returns to the hospital (for tests) or my GI doctor's office and negotiating our boys' behavior as they grow slowly more and more sick of each other.

Through it all, it has been Shawn who is our rock in this situation. He leads our prayers every morning. He remains so incredibly positive through every appointment and change. He does everything. I am so grateful for him and can't believe what a gift he is.

Staying a bit longer

I will be staying in the hospital for a few more days. The doctor had me get another CT scan this morning to make sure that everything is working correctly. It’s going a bit more slowly than the doctor wants. So, I’ll be here at least another day.

Please pray. I miss Shawn and the boys so much it hurts.

More tomorrow if I hear more.

Jesus I trust in you.

Still here - Courage!!

I think that could be the name of a song for BOTH this pandemic and my stay in the hospital - “still here.” Go ahead, rock stars, write a song that we can listen to after all of this.

So, I’m still in the hospital, still blogging from my little phone. But rest assured that I feel 100% better if I’m communicating at all! This third surgery (I’ve heard a lot of “third times the charm!”- this surgery recovery has been  totally different from the last two. I feel like myself. I’m strong in my (painful) walks and things are “coming on line” a bit faster. I’ll still be here until Monday, but that’s better than all week! And mainly because my doctor wants me on solid foods before I leave.

The nurses and I were already friendly...now I’m like their “hospital mother” and they come in to chat about life. It’s all the same nurses and I’m on the same general surgery floor, so it’s a bit deja vu-y.  I am still trying to figure out what to send them all after I’m out. They work so hard on “the non-covid” patients, they deserve a lot.

Thank you all for your prayers during this. I really can tell I’ve got some heavy-hitting prayers going up this time. It’s a totally different experience physically even as it’s exactly the same in every other aspect. I trust that this is it. I trust I’ll get back to my boys and my life.

Maybe just in time for the governor to reinstate play dates. My boys could REALLY use a play date that doesn’t involve a game on a screen.

Back in the hospital (surgery 3)

Well...I’m Back in the hospital until-at least, Monday. I’m typin on my small phone, so please bear with me. This week had another ramping up of weird symptoms, so Dr Nandi had to go back in to see what was wrong.

Part of me thinks I’m going to spend more than 1/2 of this quarantine in th hospital! How I miss my friends and family.  But especially Shawn and my boys.

I think we’re all praying/hoping this will all be  over soon. My prayer is no different-that I start to feel normal ASAP.

Jesus, I trust in you. Your will is always best, even when I don’t understand.

Ps be happy to be with your kids and that you can eat Easter candy and pantry food. I haven’t been able to eat regular food for almost a month.

I was in the hospital for 7 days...or "where I've been"

So, 15 days ago I wrote that I was fine. I was recouping from my surgery and getting good advice from doctors and some nurse friends. But then I started vomiting - like - projectile vomiting and I couldn't sleep or get comfortable. Eventually, Shawn called my GI guy and he said to go to the emergency room.  Yes, here I was on Wednesday morning hearing that I should (as a cancer patient) not go anywhere near a hospital, and I'm sitting in a room in the ER getting ready for a PET scan.

I'm pretty sure I went in April 1st. The best of all Fool's Days.

It turns out that the Pet scan area is the hot place in the hospital - this is how they diagnose pneumonia, I think. You can click on this picture and see the nurses very geared up for against covid.

From my scan, we found out that I had an abscess and needed emergency surgery to repair the blockage I'd developed from my previous surgery. My doctor was hoping that it could all be laparoscopic - that little robot surgery - but once he began, he realized that he would have to open me up and the surgery took 3 hours.

It was pretty awful.

But the worst part was being totally alone. Shawn couldn't stay or help or even come to visit. It was just me and the nurses (sweet, sweet girls).

I was in the hospital until yesterday. We all had to wear masks and it was a big, open ghost town waiting for all of the Covid patients that were promised to come. It wasn't scary, but it was really, really, strange.

Now, I am incredibly grateful to be home and I'm working hard to recover so that I can go back to chemo. Because Cancer always follows.