What I thought would be an overnight in the hospital turned into a week long hospital stay. Guys....you can't make this stuff up. The infection was staph, and it traveled from the port into my bloodstream. I spent 7 nights at MD Anderson receiving IV antibiotics to keep from becoming septic. My port, which caused the infection, was removed and I a picc line was inserted to receive my antibiotics. I cried a little when they placed it, afraid I'd get another infection from something they're putting inside my veins next to my heart. Scans were done on my liver and my heart, because this particular staph likes to vegetate heart valves and does a number on the liver. Thankfully my heart is healthy and, as the infection gets more under control, my liver regains its health as well.
Where do I go from here? Well...I'll need to be on IV antibiotics at home until September 25th. Usually they don't like to give chemo to a patient who is receiving IV antibiotics, but they dislike the idea of my cancer growing unchecked even more. On September 8th, after two weeks of IV antibiotics and missing two rounds of chemo, I'll finally be able to have another chemo treatment (to this date, I've still only had the one chemo treatment on 8-18). Most likely I'll need to have another port placed once I'm finished with my antibiotics. As you can imagine, I'm not too thrilled about this. Get a port, use it once for chemo, it gets infected, spend a week in the hospital during which time the port is removed and a picc line is placed to receive antibiotics, then get a port again?? So many procedures, so much time away from my family and my students. Girl, Interrupted. But my oncologist says that the chemo will be too hard on my veins for a regular IV, and they don't like to use a picc line for chemo because they're for short term (a few weeks) use, not long term. More interruptions on the road to recovery. I'm doing my best to take it in stride, and find the joy and laughter along the way. God is showing up in each step, reminding me that I'm right where he needs me to be. So the interruption has become more of my path for the time being.
My awesome friends have put together a couple of different ways to donate towards my mounting medical expenses. This recent hospital stay was a curve ball I didn't expect. If you feel lead, any little bit helps. (Vemno or bank deposits are preferred to avoid fees. Please and thank you.)
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