February 5, 2016 – I Married a Vampire
So much has happened in the past couple of weeks that I
hardly know where to begin. First of
all, though, I must say that it’s delightful to be at home during daylight
hours for the first time in quite a while.
It seems that I’ve spent most of the past week or so at nursing homes,
hospitals, doctors’ offices, and medical labs.
In short, life has been one crisis after another. And as for the title of this post, the
vampire reference will soon become clear.
When I last posted on January 25, Elliott had recovered from
pneumonia but was in the ICU with internal bleeding. Fortunately, tests helped identify the source
of the bleeding and doctors were able to stop it. We were relieved that he was ready to leave
the hospital on January 27. However,
Elliott was not at all happy to be going to Fairfax Nursing Center rather than
coming home. He was eager to build up
his strength with physical and occupational therapy and everyone has been
impressed by his progress. Needless to
say, I visited him often.
Earlier this week, while still in the nursing facility, he started
radiation therapy at Fairfax Hospital for his throat tumor. However, two days ago, routine tests showed
that his blood count had dropped significantly once again. The radiation oncologist conferred with
hematologist and decided to go ahead with the radiation treatment yesterday
morning. IN the afternoon, Elliott had
an appointment with the hematologist, who told us that Elliott needed another
blood transfusion. So it was off to the
lab and then to Fairfax Hospital. I
stayed with him until around 9 p.m., at which point he wasn’t looking very
good. (Low blood count means he isn’t
getting enough oxygen into his system, and he hadn’t gotten any rest at all
yesterday.) But after getting two units
of fresh blood overnight, he looked and felt much better this morning. He even felt well enough to go for his
radiation treatment before I took him back to the nursing home.
Since it is likely that his blood count will fall again,
further transfusions will probably be necessary. Of course, frequent blood transfusions don’t seem
to be a good long-term solution to this medical problem. However, the priority for now is to enable
him to get through the six weeks of radiation therapy. Once that’s complete (and the tumor is gone –
we hope), the doctors can focus on getting his bone marrow to produce more of
those yummy red blood cells. In the
meantime, Elliott will remain a vampire.
As if life weren’t crazy enough with all the ups and downs
of Elliott’s medical condition, my mother had her own health crisis last
Friday. The first indication that
something was wrong came Friday morning when she reported to one of the aides
in her assisted living facility that she couldn’t see out of her left eye. I got a phone call from Greenspring as I
getting ready to bring some clean clothes over to Elliott at the nursing
center. Katie was her usual cheery self
when I took her to the ER. In fact, she kept
asking where we were going and why we were going there. When the doctor asked how she was, she smiled
broadly and replied, “Just fine!” Her
main concern was getting lunch. I
finally went to the café in the building and brought back a tuna sandwich. Once she’d eaten that, she asked, “What’s for
dessert?” to everyone who came to check on her.
Katie had several tests, including a CT scan, and was
admitted then to Alexandria Hospital for further testing and to see a
neurologist. As soon as she got settled
into her hospital bed, the first thing she said to the nurse was “I’m ready for
lunch.” I reminded her about the tuna
sandwich but she insisted she was hungry.
A tray appeared a few minutes later.
Katie ate a few bites of the manicotti and all of the chocolate
mousse. Since I was starving by this
point, I gobbled up the rest of the manicotti, which was quite delicious.
My mother stayed overnight and was ready to be discharged on
Saturday afternoon. According to her
discharge report, she had a stroke and there was narrowing of the carotid
artery. Of course, we need to follow up
so I spent a good deal of time this week setting up appointments for her to see
her primary care physician, a neurologist, and an ophthalmologist. As strokes go, this one was quite mild, and
she’s already starting to regain some of the vision in her left eye. She’s happily back to her familiar routine at
Greenspring.
As you can see, the past couple of weeks have been filled
with surprises. Each time I think I have
a good grip on the situation, something new happens. Thank goodness my years of motherhood and
teaching helped me develop some skill in dealing with uncertainty and sudden
change.
Out of necessity, I will be simplifying my life. Since cloning myself is not an option, I’ll be
attempting to fit in fewer activities, and I’ll be much more selective about how
I spend any free time. I’ll get to my
afternoon art history class whenever possible.
Other forms of exercise will take the place of my morning Zumba and
Pilates classes. And Sunday afternoon
will remain devoted to fused glass. At
this time of year, I’m quite content to stay at home in the evening, as long as
I have a good book to keep me company. As
for cooking, one of my favorite activities, it will be nutritious but not ambitious. I’ve already warned Elliott not to complain
about leftovers. What else is
important? Keeping in touch with family
and friends by phone, email, Facebook, blog, and occasional in-person
visits. Of course, sleep is essential,
and I’m committed to getting at least eight hours a night.
Numerous people have generously asked what they can do to
help. At first, I couldn’t come up with
any concrete ideas, but now I have a suggestion: homemade soup. We’ll be eating lunch and
dinner at home for several weeks, and soup would be the ideal comfort
food. Elliott and I like all kinds of
soup – vegetable, bean, chicken, etc. and we’d appreciate soup (or any food
offering) you’d be kind enough to prepare for us. Anything we can’t eat right away will go into
the freezer. I’ll return containers as
soon as possible.
So, in conclusion, less than twenty-four hours ago, when I
was driving back from the hospital, I was on the verge of a nervous
breakdown. I feel much better now. I’m remembering to breathe, and I’m ready to
take each moment as it comes.
