I feel like I didn't get a weekend this weekend. Actually, I feel like I only got half a weekend. The first part was great: dinner with friends on both Friday and Saturday, and a nice girls' morning on Saturday AM. But when we got home from dinner on Saturday night, all hell broke loose.
We arrived home to find that our cat was very, very sick. Vomiting, diarrhea, you name it. She was listless and clearly feeling awful. I cleaned everything up and tried to console her, but she was basically inconsolable. I made her a comfy place to sleep, covered all favorite furniture with towels, gave her some love, and went to bed figuring that I'd take her to the veterinary ER in the morning if she was still suffering. Needless to say, I didn't sleep well, getting up twice to check on her.
The good news is that she seemed much better on Sunday morning. She was hungry and thirsty and pretty much back to her usual self. So I vowed to make her an appointment with her new vet for sometime this week, brewed myself a pot of tea, and settled in to enjoy a lazy Sunday.
Then GH got up. Uncontrollable bloody nose. He's prone to bloody noses, especially in the dry, dry days of winter, and usually he gets them under control fairly easily. Not this time. It was a faucet. Damn you, low platelets. After 10 minutes of trying to stop it, we gave up and headed to the ER. I had the foresight to put some cookies and a Nalgene bottle of water in my bag, but not the foresight to put in a book: BIG MISTAKE.
This time the good news was that the ER docs saw GH right away and were able to get the bleeding under control (although by the time we got there, checked in, got a room, etc. he'd been bleeding for about 45 minutes). The bad news is that to stop it, the doc put a rubber tube up GH's nose and filled it with saline to block the entire nasal cavity. Guess what: this is not very comfortable. At all. Poor GH can't breathe through either side of his nose and he's not allowed to lie down flat to sleep. Hooray.
It took about two hours for the blood test results to come back, and we had to wait in case GH needed a platelet transfusion. Again, some good news: platelets were around 50K, so no drop from the chemo. Yet. Once we got those results, we got to go home with instructions to leave the tube in place until a Wednesday follow-up appointment with an ENT.
So I'm at work today, GH is home trying to rest, although it's nearly impossible to get any real quality sleep with a tube of saline shoved up your nose. Anything to do with the face is uncomfortable: talking, eating, breathing. He's on painkillers, which help, but mostly he's just restless and uncomfortable. Until Wednesday. Chemo is off for this week, but we'll be back in on the 15th. The oncologist is concerned about this episode, though. One of GH's chemo drugs (Avastin) can cause bleeding, and that combined with low platelets and this incident . . . well, we'll just have to see.
It was actually kind of a relief when this morning rolled around. I was just ready for yesterday to be over. We got home from the ER around 12:30, hungry, tired, and grungy. We were both desperate for a shower, and I immediately washed all of the clothes we'd worn that morning--ERs are such germy hellholes.
On a more positive note, I've been feeling the babies move a lot, which is really cool. I had an ultrasound on Friday during which I saw the girl punch the boy in the head! Preview of coming attractions. The babies are each around 18cm long. Boy is transverse at the top of my belly, girl is breech on the lower left side. I think the girl pummeled the boy up into that top spot so that she'd have more room to herself. Pretty funny.
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9 comments:
LOL about your daughter punching your son.
Glad you had something to laugh about in what sounds like a sucky weekend. Hope GH is feeling better soon.
I'm sorry to hear about your stressful weekend. It was good to talk with you sat. afternoon, although, I feel bad that things got so hairy after that. I hope that GH can get some rest today and tomorrow and then get rid of the tube on Wed.
I know this is a stupid questions, but how are you doing? Is there anything I can do for you?
How is the cat today?
I'm sorry. That sounds like a miserable weekend.
It's exciting that you are feeling the babies move. I remember really enjoying that stage of my pregnancy. I know it's hard to savor it with so many other things going on in your life.
Cat seems OK today. I am still going to make her a vet appointment, but overall she seems to be pretty much back to normal.
Not a stoopid question to ask how I'm doing, and your offer of help is certainly appreciated. I'm afraid, though, that as much as I'd like to offer something tangible that you can do, I'm somewhat at a loss. Keep reading and commenting and listening . . . that's a great help in and of itself. If I can come up with something better, I'll let you know.
Oh, dear, what a bother for poor GH and a worry for both of you! And the cat! On top of it all! Glad the tykes are moving around. I think of you often and how up and down your life is. Hope today is a good day.
Ugh. Nose tubes are yucky. ERs are unbelievably tedious. I'm sorry your weekend was nuts.
I'm glad about the twins.
Snick, I'm sorry. I went to the ER with my husband four times in a month and a half, so I understand how stressful and shitty it is. Just keep hoping and praying. In the end, that's really all of us can do. I'll be thiknking of ya.
poor cat. poor GH. poor, poor you. i know the ER game all too well.
we heard all kinds of horror stories about avastin and its side effects, but i firmly believe it kept my husband alive for at least a year longer than he would have been otherwise...they kept predicting it would cause heart problems, etc. (and assuming it had, and testing for damage after his hospitalization, while warning us he might never again be well enough for chemo)...but it was never true.
and a platelet count of 50K is pretty darn good after what GH has been through--his body is clearly doing what it is supposed to, despite the scary, scary bleeding. those nasal bleeds are easy to get, and look awful, i know.
i don't mean to sound bossy or know-it-all; just want to send some hope based on our experience. and how incredibly joyous to learn more about your children and their intrauterine scrapping!
sending hugs and good thoughts.
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