I have now recognized the routine of the hospital and my body is waking accordingly. This morning I awoke at 6:50 which was a little later than usual but I couldn't seem to get the energy to get up and start my morning routine. Next thing I knew, it was 7:15 and I knew the day nurse would be coming in soon to introduce herself and take my vitals. I just struggled to force myself to get up and going.
I was given another 2 hours of saline solution this morning along with magnesium to boost the magnesium level. My blood is taken from me around 4:30 or 5:00 a.m. every morning and sent to be tested. I have a chart in my room that makes it easy to see the blood levels and where they are compared to the day or days before. Today my counts were definitely down in all areas although most are still in the adequate range. But this is why I'm feeling more tired and lethargic. It will only get worse.
I passed my time this morning continuing with my knitting. Once I was finished the IV solutions, I took advantage of the freedom from the IV pole and went walking 3 laps around the floor. I ran into a volunteer who was working on the floor and she recognized me from when I worked in the Tuck Shop. Another volunteer had been wondering if I wanted visitors so I indicated to this one that, yes, I like visitors. Then I was tired. My morning also involves visits from the medical student who is working with me. She is very nice and we were able to enjoy a laugh this morning as she went about her duties. The med student reports to my stem cell doctor every day so there is no gaps in information.
Late this morning, a friend came by just as I was bored and I was so happy to see her. She was on her way in to volunteer in the hospital and came early just to see me. We had a lovely visit and then it was time for my lunch to come.
My lunch went down well and although it was a light lunch, it filled me up. Just after lunch, the heads on my picc line needed to be changed so the nurse was in. She is a lovely lady but was run off her feet. She got called away to help another nurse. When she came back, the volunteer who was wondering if I wanted visitors also arrived at the same time. We had a nice visit while the nurse worked. The volunteer stood on the other side of the room for sterilization purposes and it kept my attention from what my nurse was doing. Thus, I was not contaminating the process either.
By 2:00 I was feeling pretty tired and finally took my nurse's advice at 2:30 and laid down for a nap. Just as I was awaking from the nap, another friend came to visit as part of my church's pastoral care. We had a lovely chat and I really appreciated him taking the time to come and see me. His prayer at the end reminded me again that I'm in God's keeping but also in the safety net of all my friends and family that a behind me too. I especially liked that the prayer touched on the wellbeing of my children and hubby. This is hard on them too.
I continue to be tired tonight and will have any early evening. The downward slide progresses but as my nurse tonight said, it is all going according to the plan.
Expect a full recovery and it will come sooner than you expect. They speeded up the process because you were already doing better than they initially expected. Hope for the best and it will be!
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