Irrational - Word for the Day -- Sunday, June 1, 2008

Irrational
DEFINITION: (adjective) not endowed with reason.

Long day! Chemo Sabe just couldn't seem to get out of bed this morning. We wanted to be at UAMS by 8:30. We left here at 9:00. He had nausea and a hang over. I had already guessed it was from the Thalidomide. He wanted to stop at Krispy Kreme to get the RN from yesterday her donuts so I thought, we are already late, why not? She was thrilled, so the extra stop was worth it.

The bag started beeping this morning around 4:00. He never heard it because he was so sound asleep. He had rolled over and crimped the tube. It was okay until around 10:00 when the bag emptied. We were in the waiting room so I took the battery out. We got into clinic, had blood drawn, dressing change, flushes, and a new bag. Plus, he got two nausea pills.

We met some good people today. We heard some insurance horror stories. We can relate. We also heard a story that was very irrational. A nurse came out and announced that someone's purse was stolen yesterday in the waiting room. This is a place where there are numerous recliners, a television, a table with a puzzle, coffee center and some snacks for the patients that need a lift. The nurses even bring out warm blankets for the patients dealing with chills, etc. A rest haven, if you will, for the long waiting periods each day. Special for the MM patients only.

A caregiver went over to assist someone having problems with a bag beeping and when she did a man took a blanket, wrapped her purse in it and left. Irrational. He had been changing chairs and looking for the right opportuntity. It hasn't been the first time.

We got a report of Chemo Sabe lab from yesterday. We get one each day from the day before. We compared them and his counts are coming up. But, don't be excited. They will be dropping drastically before the week is up. He gets his bag off on Wednesday and we wait. We see the doctor again on Friday.

We were both worn out when we left. I have been fighting off a migraine since Friday. We agreed to coming home and taking a nap instead of going to Wal-Mart. We didn't leave UAMS until 11:50 so we missed church. He had wanted to still go even if we left at 11:00.

Well, we did lie down. He did after he unloaded and loaded the dishwasher and made himself some boiled eggs. Morning steriods kicking in. We had only been down about 30 minutes when UAMS called and needed us to return. His lab came back bad. His hemoglobin was below 6. Off we went after getting $90 worth of gas and running through the car wash. On the interstate we hit a rain cloud.

It was storming nicely when we arrived. The clinic wasn't too crowded and we got to fill out our first green slip. An indication we were 'returning' patients.. We arrived at 2:50 and we were out of there by 3:30. His labs were okay. They figured when the test was run it got clotted in the cyclinder and couldn't be tested.

Chemo Sabe had the hiccups all day. Uncontrollable. Irrational, if you may. On our last visit today I made a mental note to ask the nurse about it. Probably nothing, you would think. There was another gentleman there that stared hiccuping, too. So, when the nurse gave us the okay to leave I told her about it. She advised us it is a common side affect of the chemo. So, she hooked us up to a prescription along with the other guy. Never know with these chemo kids.

We finally got settled in again after some sandwiches and potato soup. I finally took something for my headache, so I need to go down and check on him. He is too quiet.

Oh, one final note. Chemo Sabe has been seeing a lot of people wearing buttons with "Myleloma Sucks" on them. Our nurse today, Madaline (Maddie for short) had one on and he asked her about it. She tells us there is a patient from Louisiana that has them made. We met him during the first bone biopsy. The nurse give Chemo Sabe the pin. That is another special way the UAMS people are.

Good night --- Pepper