Week 2 - Christmas and the Line Surgery

So week 2 started out rough, the kids caught the Flu, and out of empathy, so did I.  Thankfully Jason stayed well, and he's kept very busy taking care of us!  We all had separate trips to the walk-in clinics or teledoc, and got on some good medicine to knock it out quick.  Meanwhile, we finalized our Christmas shopping (mostly online) and got things wrapped.  As a funny part of this trip, I bought us a cactus shaped Christmas tree, and it works perfectly!  We set up our Christmas things on a desk in our new town home, and enjoyed a lovely Christmas together.  We exchanged books, crafts, electronics, and some fun treats.  Our week was mostly medical-free in order to celebrate the coming of Jesus!  On Christmas evening, we cooked some T-bone steak to perfection, then went out and looked at some neighborhood light displays before the season ended.  

Thursday morning I had the dreaded line placement surgery, where the doctors would put in a permacath for all my iv treatments and blood draws over the coming weeks.  I was so nervous, and once again felt very overwhelmed at all I will be going through.  I have to keep remembering to face it a moment at a time.  My husband has been such a support and strength for me, and he helps me when I start to freak out.  It's a big deal to be the one climbing into that hospital bed for surgery, even a small one like this.  Once the nurses got my iv set up, they rolled me into the back room and asked me to move to a surgical bed with an x-ray machine hovering overhead.  They had said the twilight medicine I was going to get would keep me awake but pain-free, but all I remember is closing my eyes and then being gently awakened an hour or so later once it was done!  The sleep felt great and I wanted to just stay asleep, but I also wanted to get out of the hospital!  So I worked through the grogginess, until I felt I could get into the car.  I felt quite sick to my stomach and faint, but after some ice chips and a drink of water, made it into the blessed sunlight and then our car.  Jason drove me back to the house, and I went to take a nap.  I spent the next few days feeling quite sick and weak, and adjusting to the idea of this line in my body.  I had my first iv treatments the next day, and it went so easily, with no pain!  I know I'll be thankful for the line once it heals.

The clinic has given me two large bags of supplements and medicines that I'll gradually start on, plus a schedule of ivs and meetings I'll be ready for by week 3.  I'm hoping I get my appetite back and can gain strength from treatment, rather than feeling sick or weakened.  There's a lot to see and do out here, once I'm ready and able!  My daughter and I are both considering getting new hairstyles, so we want to do that soon, as well as shop with her Christmas money.  The state parks are lovely, and the Grand Canyon is fairly close, I want to see it all!

So far both weekends in Arizona has seen us or at least me pretty weak and sick, but I'm hoping that won't always be the case.  We're looking into visiting some of the churches around here, and we also have a cousin not too far away we'd like to drop in on.  Another difficult item that we hope adjusts soon is our dogs trying to adapt to the small house and limited walks.  Our puppy especially is very confused and is having a lot of accidents.  We get frustrated but we know she's going to learn, and having them here will be a blessing as we get those sweet doggy hugs and kisses.  The sunny walks are good for all of us, and we're just so thankful for this warm weather in a hard winter of our lives.