Good news – continued

So yesterday I was tired and broke off my post without finishing it. Tuesday and Wednesday night I had trouble sleeping. Last night, I started to feel a cold coming and today I spent most of the day in bed catching up on sleep.

So the same radiologist – dr. meier – performed the procedure. Because Lianne, the intern, was there, he explained the process to her while he was working. Unfortunately for me (being the subject of the procedure) I couldn’t quite see the big computer screens with the imaging. There is an x-ray machine underneath the table and the images are displayed. This way, the radiologist can see the catheter going through the artery. He first gave me a local anesthetic using a syringe, and like last time it didn’t work right away. He sounded surprised when I said I could feel it, and gave me an extra shot. I said something like some patients are difficult and they thought it was funny.

The procedure went quickly, and this time he knew exactly where the right artery was. He had a number of thin threads that he pushed through the catheter (which is a long transparent thin tube). The chemo went through this as well. When he had finished, it was time to put in the plug. This is the only part that is painful. I turned my head away and winced because of the pain. Dr. Meier talked to me and told me to keep breathing, which I thought was good advice, and then asked me my plans for the weekend. All to keep me from thinking of the pain. Well, I said, I’m going to lie in my bed and sleep. What about the arrival of Sint Nicholas he said, aren’t you going to go see it? I haven’t wanted to do that since I was 6, and our kids are far too old. He said his parents in law were planning on going without children, apparently they liked it. As he talked he finished placing the plug and the pain ceased. He talked as if we were having coffee.

He asked me if I would be coming back but this was the last time. He wished me the best and I went back to my bed and waited for someone to pick me up from the hallway (they carted me around in my hospital bed). I asked Lianne if she could see everything on the screens and she said that it was very interesting. Apparently this is a specialty called intervention radiology. I was impressed with the way Dr. Meier worked, very precise and professional.

Once upstairs I had to pee, but I was not allowed to move so Daphne gave me a bedpan. A little later I got my lunch (vegetarian croquet and broccoli soup) and then I rested for a while. My mom arrived around 4 PM. Just after, the doctor stopped by to see how the wound looked and she told me I could go home at 5. The nurse removed the IV and we packed all my things up. My mom drove me home and I slept in my own bed that night.

Yesterday I felt great. No pain at all, I was able to move and walk around. But then last night I felt I was getting a cold. And because my white blood cell count is low, I’m not taking any chances. So today and tomorrow I’m resting and taking it easy.