Monday, February 27, 2012

I have a date with my nebulizer!

Well, I didn't fall off the face of the Earth, but almost. I was in the hospital from Monday of last week until Friday of last week. Then I had a great time with the family on Saturday, watching Lund play in his last football game and enjoying the sunshine. Then Sunday, I was feeling a lot of the "symptoms" they warned me about, so I was back in the ER. The results of the hospital stay last week showed that I had fluid around my left lung and they had to do a procedure to remove the fluid. ("thorancenticis") Anyway, I didn't realize how painful "re-inflating" your lung can be! Last Thursday when they "tapped" my lung the first time, they pulled out a liter and a half, which is a LOT of liquid! After they finished draining my lung, my heart rate and blood pressure plummeted, and I had to lay down until they could get my body under control.
 So, when I had to get the fluid drained again today, I wasn't quite excited. I did ask my nurse to give me pain meds before I left my hospital room and it was STILL painful. I was given more pain meds when I got back to my room and I finally had a chance to eat breakfast.....then I threw up. Fun times! Too much pain and too many pain meds don't work wonders on the tummy.
 Another procedure they performed on me last week in the hospital was called a broncho-scope. They lay you on a cold metal table and then shoot a syringe of numbing solution up your nose....How Rude! The Pulmonologist went into my right lung to see what was going on to make the top lobe collapse. Turns out it is a new tumor doing the dirty work. Stinky tumor!
   So, now that I have been discharged from the hospital twice in one week, I think we have a plan. It goes as follows...
    1. Place a catheter/stint into my left lung to drain the liquid easier.
    2. Possible radiation for the tip of the right lung to shrink the tumor that is blocking and collapsing that lung.
    3. New chemo regimen since the current regimen doesn't seem to be effective in the least.

And the most important step is to...................Go on a cruise and forget that any of this stuff exists!!!! Wahooooooo! March 10th cannot come soon enough!!!!

4 comments:

Bonnie Hynes said...

It is rude, isn't it? You are so funny, Christa! We are praying for you guys to GET ON THAT CRUISE AND ENJOY YOURSELVES!

LUND said...

You sumed it up pretty well. We love you.
Mom and Dad Johnson

Jeremy and Ruth said...

YOu GO on that cruise girl!! I think nobody deserves a cruise like you and your family!! ENJOY!!! :)

Jeremy and Ruth said...

YOu GO on that cruise girl!! I think nobody deserves a cruise like you and your family!! ENJOY!!! :)