Part 7

Being transferred to Rush changed my healing process . The nurses were wonderful , attentive and caring . I absolutely adored my doctor . I wished I came here right from the start . My stay and care at the hospital was wonderful .

As to my health , I spent the next 3 1/2 months in and out of the hospital . I think the longest I was home at one time was 10 days . It wasn't the cancer I had to deal with , but all these other health issues that developed from my illness .  

During the last surgery , they placed a mesh in my stomache that caused me so many problems . I basically had a hole in my stomache , that I had to learn how to take care of myself on a daily basis until it healed naturally with the skin fusing together . Cleaning and bandaging this open wound was more than I could take mentally . For some reason , I couldn't even look at it , let alone deal with the maintenance of it .

I actually had a therapist at the hospital that would help me cope with all these issues . This wound was a huge problem for me . I think there was so much going on with me physically that I had to deal with myself , my mind couldn't grasp all of it at once . I wanted the doctors to magically make it all disappear , but in reality , I had to do the work .

Another problem I had was with infections . With cancer , we have to take our temperatures regularly to ensure we have no fever . If a fever ensues , we need to get to a hospital because we developed an infection . I had five of these fever/infections basically all stemming from my pic line .

When the fever went down , I would be placed on antibiotics at home  which involved an I.V. thru my pic line . A nurse would visit me twice a week at home to take my temperature , weigh me , take my blood pressure and change my pic line . On her first visit , she taught me how to take care of my pic line and how to connect this I.V. myself . That first time , I literally vomitted from fright .

One of the hardest times for me was when a fischula developed which really means a hole opened up between one wound to another . I hope I got that right . In this instance , it was from my colostomy . Everything I ate , ended up coming through the hole in my stomache . If I ate a tomato , chunks of tomato would appear in  my stomache wound . How do you heal that ? You don't eat through your mouth , you are fed intravenuously .

My " food " would arrive three times a week . I could not eat or drink anything through my mouth . You have no idea how difficult this was for me . It's not that you are hungry , but you miss the act of eating . We had a peach tree in our yard and during that time the peaches were ripe . I would cheat and take a bite to swirl around in my mouth and then I would spit it out .

Again , all of this was happening one event after the other . Home three days , in the hospital for five . Home for eight , in hospital for four . It went on like that for almost four months . All during this time , I wasn't really dealing with my cancer , I was dealing with my body's limitations . This time was so difficult for me emotionally because I have always been the " bull " and my strength was gone . I became a sick little calf instead .
Have a Blessed Week everyone .