I never had a chance to post about Wednesday, March 15th. I was getting some fresh blonde highlights to be ready for my upcoming treatment plan when my brother called to tell me, “Mom fell down the stairs and she can’t get up.” I rushed out of the salon, drove as fast as I could without being pulled over, and pulled up to her house to find an ambulance out front.

Her face was all black and blue. She looked awful lying there motionless while the EMT’s were asking her questions. I was standing in the entry and she yelled, “Don’t come near me!”. The previous night she had gone to urgent care where she was diagnosed with some lower left pneumonia. Even in agony, she was still a mom worried about possibly getting her daughter sick!

They hauled her away to the hospital where my brother met her there. It was very nerve-wracking waiting to hear what was wrong! My brother called and said, “Mom broke her neck in the C1 & C2.” Meanwhile, she was in the background yelling, “But I’m not paralyzed!!!”

She will be in a neck brace for three months with the hopes she will heal without the necessity of surgery. Time will tell but I know she’ll listen to what the doctors tell her with the hopes she doesn’t have to go down that road. Oh, I forgot to mention, she had a twelve-week-old puppy running around too! Fortunately, my brother lives at home with her and is doing a great job taking care of both of them.

I was so stressed about my mom but I needed to have a procedure two days after her fall. I’ve had a few blood clots in the past and I take blood thinners daily. I no longer have a subclavian vein on the right side of my body. Think of that vein as the main highway to the heart, since it’s destroyed I rely on all the side roads, collateral veins, to pump blood to my right arm. This all happened during my lung transplant when my vein was compromised with too much use but fortunately I gained my functionality back with my arm over a couple of years.

This made planning my chemo regimen a little more challenging to preserve my one and only left side. Instead of a portacath that most people would get placed, I will require a central line Hickman. A portacath is a device that sits underneath the skin and can be accessed with a needle. Then when not in use, it’s de-accessed by simply removing the needle and going about your day. I will require a Hickman which is an I.V. tube that will stick out of my chest the entire treatment. Due to the risk of infection, I can’t let water run down my head or neck in the shower. I have to be more cautious so it doesn’t get pulled when dressing, sleeping, or moving, and I have to make sure the site stays really clean considering it’s a direct line to my heart sticking out of my chest. This might be a big deal for a lot of people but prior to my new lungs, I would have to endure the Hickman line eight months out of the year. We already own a handheld shower head and I got so used to the lines I used to require before my transplant that I still wash my hair upside-down to this day so hey, no biggie!

I’m taking two types of chemo, the pretty color purple one is called Mytomycin and they push it through my Hickman over 5-10 minutes. The second in the clear bag is called Fluorouracil or its nickname is 5FU. It’s a week full of F.U. 😉 It stayed attached to me 24/7 until it was unhooked this last Friday. The radiation continues for another 4+ weeks. I have a chemotherapy break and will repeat the same process starting on day 29 of my treatment.

Week one is in the books and it was a rough one! I started my chemo/radiation treatment last Monday and by Tuesday I was already not agreeing with the chemo. I was EXTREMELY nauseated! I spent most of the week in bed. The rest of the week was spent on the couch. It was challenging getting to my radiation appointments but Travis was a good driver and wheelchair pusher when necessary!

The good news is the chemo is finished for the time being. I’m feeling better today and finally feel like posting. I definitely feel like eating again but now I’m dealing with a chemo canker sore and it’s a big one! I guess that’s an indication the chemo is working so I’ll go with the flow. Hopefully I’ll be able to shake my booty more this week.