Sometimes the healthcare system can move incredibly fast. This morning I received a phone call at 7:30am asking if I could come in to get my ascites drained. They asked how quickly I could come in and I replied 13 minutes. It did not take me 13 minutes as I did not remember to factor in the impact of the snow day. I arrived about 20 minutes later and proceeded to register and wait for the procedure. I had the same doctors and nurses that inserted my port a couple of weeks ago so it was nice to see them again. I did not realize that after they insert the drainage tube that I had to go to the Supportive Care area and get drainage there. I did not park close to there and was parked quite far away from where I currently am. There are so many side effects from draining the ascites. Right now they drained 4.5l from my abdomen and there seems to be more so they want me to come back tomorrow to drain the rest. My blood pressure dropped afterwards so they did not want me to walk to my vehicle. I thought I was ok until I stood up and realized that I was light headed. I will wait for the volunteer to come and bring me to the front so I can go to my vehicle. I think that I will be able to drive home ok afterwards. Before I leave today I am getting bloodwork done to see how much more they will be able to drain tomorrow. The doctor checked my abdomen and noticed a significant difference. If this helps with my eating then this will then become a more regular procedure as it should in theory allow me to eat more. I miss eating so I appreciate this.
I had some meetings with some people this morning and told some of them about this and showed the photos of my drainage. Everyone that I spoke to their first question was did you need me to come to the hospital. I appreciate that so many people were willing to come and get me or make sure that I was ok. I am going to experience weight loss today as I have yet to eat and by this time I would have had a coffee and approaching my 2nd meal. Mel said she was going to leave after her meeting to come and check up on me. I did not end up leaving the hospital until after 11:30. I did the smart thing and let Mel come get me to drive me. I actually felt quite good afterwards and did some work for a couple of hours. I managed to eat ok and things sat fine. The issue is when I move there is a lot of discomfort and pain. If I am completely stationary things are fantastic. The key is for me to purchase a robotic helper to help retrieve things for me in the house. Since it was a snow day Olivier helped me out with things. He sucks but he is quite willing and does his best. You need to give him very specific instructions but he gives it the best effort with zero complaints. I had asked him to help me remove my pants when I got home and he struggled so much. I told him to grab it from the bottom and pull them off from there. He was originally pulling from the waist as that is how he would take off his pants. I also got him to setup my heater for me in the room and then he left. He was actually quiet as he knew that i was trying to nap.
I have not eaten much today compared to what I normally can but it seems to feel ok what I have eaten. I can drink fluids faster and I have had regular bowel movements so hopefully the next couple weeks are not too bad. I have purchased 4oz baby bottles to help portion out food and will make some perfectly sized portions of things that I can quickly grab when I need something to eat. After consultation with my personal nurse I have taken a pain killer. Mel has been telling me to take it, but it is different when it is from the nurse and not Mel. I applied a new cream to the rash and it seems to be ok, but there is a fear of an infection so we will see once the lab results come back from the milky discharge.
Xavier is going to be gone to ski with some friends for 3 days and Olivier is going for a sleepover on the weekend so we should have at least 1 quiet day prior to me starting up Chemo again. This week so far has been far busier than I have anticipated and I have spent more time at the hospital than I would have thought. In total I have been there longer this week then when I went in for treatment and it is only Wednesday. The kids ended up starving tonight because I took a nap and Mel was in charge of dinner. They had to fend for themselves so I have no clue what they chose to eat. I think Mel did not eat either because I did not make food for her. She was thinking of picking up food but she did not and drove Xavier and a friend skiing instead. I had wanted to make skirt steak tonight but alas I did not. We will see what we will eat tomorrow night.
Quoc Hao