I had to go for my CT scan this morning and then have my pump disconnected. Arriving at the hospital parking lot I had found a space but with the truck you need to back into the spaces and I could not figure out a method to actually get the truck in because there was not enough space in the lane to actually physically get in with the way the cars were parked. I circled out and was leaving the parking lot. Someone entered the parking lot at the same time and were ahead of me. I was exiting the lot and there was someone pulling out of a space with a vehicle waiting to pull into that spot. The vehicle that was in front of me snuck into the spot as the other vehicle was pulling out. The two people in the cars were trying to point out that the other guy was actually waiting for that spot but the people did not care, parked and got out. I eventually found a spot in another lot and realized how bad my sensitivity to cold was. My face was hurting from the cold hitting it. I do not understand the selfishness of people sometimes and simple manners and decorum. It annoyed me because everyone is looking for a spot and what makes your entry just as important as others. This was a bit interesting because on Tuesday when I was at a local bakery I was being served by someone and a couple came in and bought something and demanded that they be cashed out immediately because they had somewhere to be. They were not very nice and were a bit rude to the workers. Treat others with respect and there is no reason to talk down to people trying their best. It is a stark contrast to what we are experiencing right now, where people continue to show up with generosity and care without being asked.
Once I entered the hospital it was approximately 11:05 and I went to register in CT and have my contrast. A member of Mel’s extended family was working there and I chatted with him briefly and mentiond that I had the port and was was hoping that the chemo would be done and I could get the bottle removed so I did not need an IV. I managed to drink all of the contrast and still had 30 minutes left before it was my turn, so I went down to the cancer center to check to see if the bottle was emoty enough. Luckily it was completely drained, so I went to register and then had the bottle removed. I had to tell the nurse to leave the line in because I was going to go get the CT scan still. I eventually headed back upstairs and by this time it was 12:25. Once I was upstairs I had to wait a while they dealt with some other patients. The tech did not want to use my port as she was uncomfortable and wanted to put in an IV line. She did not think that the port was rated for the high pressure. I kept on insisting that it was and that when I had the port installed that they knew that I was going to have CT scans and it was fine. I pulled out the Port card that has all of the information and she confirmed that it was indeed fine. I do not think she was super comfortable as they are not really trained on ports and just generally the PICC. She agreed to use it and no more needles in me. I ended up getting the CT scan shortly after 1:15 or so I believe. After the whole port debacle things were fairly smooth, I went back downstairs and had the tube removed from the port after sitting in the chair waiting a bit for the nurse. She did not see that was in the chair and I had to wait until she came out doing her rounds. On my way out of the hospital I saw some former colleagues and she was telling me that she had seen my GoFundMe and we chatted about that a bit. Apparently she saw it posted on a basketball site which is a bit surprising because we do not play basketball and I am not sure who posted it there. It is appreciated though and it does explain some of the new names donating to the fundraiser. The kindness of strangers is remarkable. Whenever I think that the funding is slowing down I am surprised. The number is steadily increasing and we get large anonymous donations seemingly daily now. All of this is quite appreciated and it helps relieve a lot of stress and pressure on paying for treatments. We are truly blessed with the incredible network that we have.
I have had a lot of people reach out to me in the last couple of days as word of all of this has spread and everyone is offering so much support for us. Every message, every offer to help, every act of kindness, no matter how big or small, carries weight. It reminds us that we are not going through this alone. It gives us strength on the days when things are difficult. It shifts the focus from what is difficult to what is still strong. We are incredibly grateful. Tomorrow we will spend the day packing for Spain and getting things ready. I will try and update as much as we can from Spain and think that I should be able to keep up with my scheduled posts.
Q