Cameron and Kacey

Cameron and Kacey
My Beautiful Angels

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Home Sweet Home!

So as many of you know, this has NOT been the best week for me. But with a little "extra" modern medicine, I am now BACK on my road to recovery, after a slight detour. I finally came home from the hospital today after spending four nights and five days at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston.

As most of you read from my Mom and Jen's posts, my white blood cell count plummeted by Wednesday and that just increased the sores and the mucositis in my mouth. Nothing was able to heal as my count was so low. And I was also running a fever of 101. Then my RBC count began to drop. There was talk of a possible blood transfusion, but luckily those counts came up on their own.

By Friday, all blood counts began to rise and I finally began to feel better. I had been hydrated and medicated and was finally able to open my mouth and actually talk! I know, must have been a nice quiet few days, huh, Mom!?!?

Saturday morning, my stomach chimed in stating that it was quite sick of being empty and was in need of some food. So I ordered chicken broth and cream of wheat for breakfast. First of all, what was I thinking ordering cream of wheat?? I don't like that when I HAVE an appetite, never mind feeling queasy! So I ate the chicken broth and it felt pretty good. By lunchtime, I needed more "real" food. So I ordered a grilled cheese, some apple juice and a butterscotch pudding. Jen walked in while I was eating my grilled cheese and almost fell on the floor! She was so glad that I was finally eating!! Then, five minutes later, one of the doctors who admitted me walked in and had the same reaction. "You really want to go home, huh?" he asked. I had also ordered mashed potatoes, but they didn't have much flavor, so I skipped those.

Mom and Dad were with me when I ordered dinner Saturday night. The beauty of this hospital is that you can order WHATEVER you want off the menu WHENEVER you want it. So I ordered broccoli cheese soup, a baked potato, and chicken pot pie for dinner. The pot pie was not very good, so I moved on to the broccoli soup. That was very good.....very thick, but very good. And then I ate the tiny baked potato with some butter and that went down well, too.
So well in fact, a little later, before the kitchen was to close, I ordered another baked potato. But unfortunately, when it arrived, I cut it open and the entire center was black and rotten! Oh well, guess I really didn't need that second potato!!

Sunday morning arrived and now I was thinking about breakfast. All of a sudden, food was my main focus. The pancakes looked good, along with a banana and a glass of apple juice. So I started head first into the pancakes, only to remember that hospital food always sounds and looks better than it actually is. They were quite dry. I ate some, finished my yummy banana, and drank my juice and waited.

One of the interns came in and said that if I was able to tolerate food well today and also my meds by mouth and not IV, I could go home if I was ready. He told me to take my meds, order something for lunch and we'll see how it goes. So I ordered another grilled cheese, some fries today, and another bowl of that yummy broccoli cheese soup. Yup, I can eat....now send me home!!

So I was finally discharged! I am home with "light" pain meds until the rest of my mouth heals, but feeling MUCH better. My oncologist is meeting with the "team" to discuss my next round of meds so that this does not happen again. Yes, another slight detour in my plan of attack, but I am back now!! And I still have hair!!

8 comments:

  1. Fantastic! Keep up the good work. I am sure they will find the right treament plan for you.

    Mrs. B.

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  2. So glad to hear that you're back home where you belong, Kris. (You were actually making me hungry describing all the food you ate over the last 2 days.) We'll all keep praying that things go easier from now on - keep fighting - you certainly know how! Our love to you and your whole family! Missed your blog posts!

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  3. Your team will come up with a good plan for the next round...although you know you want some more of that broccoli soup. Seriously, so glad to hear that things are improving. Love and prayers, Jenn& Dave

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  4. Good to hear you are back home and feeling
    better. You are right, just a "detour".

    Mrs. "S"

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  5. So glad to hear that things are on the brighter side these days. When I saw you last Saturday, you were not a happy camper - seemed to be in so much pain. It killed me to see you like that and not be able to do anything. Let me know when you're coming to Cumberland for another visit, I'd love to see you again and take the kids for a couple of hours!! XO

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  6. What Kris didn't tell you is that she watched the food channel for five days straight in the hospital, so of course this blog post would be about food! Imagine Rachel Ray serving black potatoes? Ugh! Hospitals...

    We're grateful to B&W hospital for getting you back on track, and getting your appetite back! Load up this week - enjoy all the yummy food you want. And give those kids some hugs & kisses for us...I'll bet they are enjoying snuggle time with Mommy again! That's what it is all about. :)

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  7. Everyone...please sign your name to your comments! Not sure who wrote the last one...but know it's someone who knows Kris well...watching the Food Channel!!! ;-)

    Linda

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  8. Hi Kris, Glad you are able to eat again (even if it was hospital food). You looked great tonight! Keep fighting. See you Saturday.

    Adrienne

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