D-day

Storyline: Thinking in Autumn Colours 

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From the horse’s mouth

Wed Oct 6

D is for discharge (from hospital, that is) (Oh, and here am I thinking D is for Diana😊 – D). The previous night I had slept better than I had in days. Having only two washroom breaks, and no pain meds was a big win. But by 8:30am the headache was back, and true to form it got progressively worse.

The day got busy. Visits from the dietician and pharmacists filled the gaps between checks of vitals, IV’s and delivery of meds.

I managed to wash myself and shave in the morning and change into my street clothes. IV lines were removed and then it was hurry up and wait. Diana arrived and was ready to head to the hospital’s pharmacy once the pharmacists had been by and given us our final instructions. And when the pharmacists finally showed up, so did the nurse with the oral chemo. To get this drug into me via the g-tube, the chemo capsules had to be opened and the powder mixed with water to get it into the syringe. Because of the potential harmful nature of the drug, the nurse was fully gloved, gowned and wearing a face shield. They don’t take chemo lightly! No problems with administering it, and I’d been told that there were very few side effects, but I just wished that I was feeling better as I was definitely heading downhill all morning.

Diana headed downstairs to get the meds from the pharmacy, and was told by the dispensing pharmacist that the estimate she had been given of a 20-30 minute turnaround was unrealistic due to how busy they were. She told the pharmacist that I was being discharged and that she needed to get me home and on the feeding pump, so the pharmacist pulled together the order right away and Diana soon headed back to my room to escort me out.

I’d anticipated being able to walk with her to the nearby lot where she was parked, but by the time we had got to the hospital’s exit, I was done in. Off she went, and texted me when she was outside. I made it into the open air for the first time in a month, and sank into the car with relief. I couldn’t even keep my eyes open for the short drive home. But it was nice to get there. Diana had done a great job of setting up my sick room and I was soon ensconced in my dad’s La-z-Boy recliner where I curled up and felt worse than I’d felt in days.