March 3, 2000 -- Admission Day
Well, the long-awaited day has finally arrived. I'll start this with a little bit about yesterday, since that's when the excitement really began.
Yesterday we found out that Dave was to check into the hospital at 12:30, with surgery to place Hickman lines (I'll tell you more about them later) scheduled for 2:00. Since it was late enough in the day, we figured we'd get up early Friday morning and drive down, giving us one more night at home. When Dave got home from work about 1:00, there was a message that we needed to be here for check in at 10:30 for 12:30 surgery. I didn't know this, so I worked until about 5:00.
When I got home, Dave told me about it, and we decided we'd better come down Thursday night so we weren't rushing around Friday morning. Unfortunately, we weren't all packed, thinking we'd have Thursday night to get everything organized. Fortunately, being the worry wart I am, I had made several lists of things to bring, so we at least had an idea of what to pack. So we hustled around and got our stuff togeter, and hit the road by 7:30. Neither of us was really hungry, but we figured we'd better eat, so we stopped at Burger King for chicken sandwiches and fries. Somehow, this isn't how I was picturing Dave's last meal before he entered the hospital!
We arrived in Boston about 11:15. The house manager at Shannon's House, where I'm staying, waited up for us and showed us around quickly, then went off to bed. We unloaded the car (after about the 10th trip up the stairs, I decided I better make sure I use all this stuff I just "had" to bring! So far, I've used quite a lot of it.) and went to bed. The room is very quiet and cozy, and a good home away from home. I'll be comfortable here.
Friday morning we took a quick trip through downtown Brookline, where Shannon's House is, then headed off to the hospital. Dave couldn't have anything to eat for 12 hours before the surgery, so he had to forgo his morning coffee, which took it's toll on him later in the day. We got checked in (and got yet another hospital card -- he's up to 3 now), then waited to be called for surgery.
We waited in what Brigham and Women's calls the Family Liaison room. It's a big waiting room with lots of chairs and magazines, a tv room and a room with a VCR. We got there about 10:45. Finally, at 1:30, Dave went and asked them when he was going to be called for surgery. They told him in a few minutes. In the meantime, we had called our Social Worker Irene about getting me a parking pass. She brought us a form to fill out so we could get a card to use in the parking garages that entitled us to free parking (saving us $4 a day). While she was there, they called Dave to go down to surgery, so we went to yet another waiting room. Here, Dave had to go change into lovely hospital gowns, and they gave him those little foam slippers to wear -- they have smiley faces on the tops of them! We waited a few more minutes, then he was called into surgery. It was now about 2:00. Poor Dave was starving.
Once Dave was out of range, I put my head down and cried for a few minutes. Our adventure was beginning, and I wasn't sure I was ready. I finally pulled myself together and left to go get some lunch. On the way down the hall, a nurse took one look at me, came over and put her arm around me, and told me everything was going to be okay. It may not seem like it right now, but if I just stayed strong, everything would work out fine. I thought that was really nice. This woman didn't know me from Eve. But that's how the people here are. Everyone we've met has been wonderful, understanding that we're in a diifficult place right now, and doing what they can to make it easier for us.
So off I went to get some lunch. The hospital has a cafeteria and an Au Bon Pain, a chain deli that has sandwiches and stuff. I got myself a turkey sandwich then went outside to sit in the sun. There was about a 6-foot sunny spot on one of the benches, so I sat there and ate, watching people come and go.
I was sitting in a little U-shaped part of the building. The wind in Boston whips up and down the streets, trapped by the buildings. In this little alcove, the wind was forming dust devils, except there was more garbage swirling around than dust. And, only in the city, people just walked right through the swirling garbage, not paying any attention to it. It's sure a far cry from Shelburne!
When I was finishing up my lunch, I saw John Horras, a resourse specialist assigned to us to help me find housing and transportation if I needed it. I talked with him for a little while, about getting settled and finding my way around, then headed back to the waiting room. I checked in at the desk to see how he was doing, and they told me he hadn't gone into surgery yet. What?? It was over an hour later. So I headed back down to the waiting area and got lost -- I got off on the wrong floor. So they figured out where Dave was and pointed me in the right direction. I finally found him, but he didn't have his glasses, so he couldn't really tell what was going on around him. They came and got him again, so I went to the waiting room again. It was now about 3:30 or so.
The was supposed to take about an hour and a half, so about 5:00 I asked the woman behind the desk if she had any news about Dave. She said he went into surgery at 4:17 (they have this really cool computer system that can tell them to the minute where a patient is. Each time a patient enters the next phase of the procedure, it's recorded. I heard the woman telling other people that they made the incision at X time, or they started the close at Y time. It was pretty cool.). So I waited some more, and finally about 6:00 they told me he was in recovery and I could go see him.
He was doing okay. A little groggy, but not out of it the way people often are after anesthesia. He didn't have regular general anesthesia; he had a local and then something to just put him on the verge of sleep.
What they had done is insert two tubes called Hickman lines into his chest. They are the lines that will be used for all IV functions -- giving blood or medications, taking blood, IV feeding -- so that they don't have to poke him in the arm every time. (It's been great so far, they just grab one of the tubes and do what they need to do. No more pokes!)
After that, they wheeled him up to the transplant unit and got him set up. He finally got to eat dinner, and the nurse came in and explained lots of stuff to us. Then 3 doctors came in and asked all sorts of questions, poked and prodded, and decided he was in great shape (other than having leukemia).
All in all, it was a long, tiring, emotional day. I knew that things would look better on Saturday, but it was still hard. Tomorrow he starts chemotherapy, and will do that for Saturday and Sunday. Then the radiation starts.
There's no getting off this ride now!
Hope you're all well.
Allison