Day 17 – My Healing Journey

After finally receiving word that my white blood cell counts were back to normal again, I had to really gear myself up for Round 2 of the Chemo treatment.  This time, my neighbor who is also a dear and cherished friend, took me and stayed with me during the treatment. We picked a good movie to watch on my laptop and settled in for the duration. 

Once again, it amazed me how many young kids were in the infusion room getting treatments and with no one there to support them; it made me very sad.  The treatment itself was uneventful, but my trepidation grew stronger by the hour as I knew I would have to go back to the clinic the following day for the dreaded shot to boost my white blood cell count.

I had talked it over with my sister the nurse and my son who is a Physician’s Assistant and we all came to the conclusion that the first option would still be a better option than having to have multiple shots and a continuous migraine. At least the Hydrocodone took the bone pain away so I could pre-dose and be prepared.  I am happy to say that the after shot was a non-event with the Hydrocodone on board. 

I was feeling pretty good the morning after the shot so I thought I would go soak in my hot tub and enjoy my morning coffee which was my normal morning ritual. I had already asked my oncologist if I could continue this ritual and she agreed that it would be fine.  It felt so good to feel the warm water on my body and it was a beautiful morning, the birds were singing and I was enjoying my coffee and a wonderful podcast. I started to get too hot and was feeling light headed so I decided to get out and sit on the side of the hot tub. 

The next thing I know, I am feeling severe pain in my head and my knee and I am somehow lying on the cement wedged between the stairs on the hot tub and the side of my brick house. I have no recollection of how I got there which was more than a bit disconcerting; all I knew was that my head was having intense pain for some reason I couldn’t fathom.  I reached my hand up to my head and felt quite a large bump.  I was puzzled and in a fog.  It took me a few minutes to get oriented to where I was and to finally figure out that I had passed out and was laying on the ground. I had hit my head on the corner of the bricks by the window in front of the spa when I fell forward and I must have messed up my knee on the bricks while I was plunging to the ground.

It took me a few minutes before I could get myself up. My cell phone was hanging on the opposite side of the spa so I had to scoot on my butt across the cement to get it because I was so weak and I couldn’t put any weight on my knee without experiencing excruciating pain. 

I finally managed to call my sister who thankfully lives around the corner from me, and she came over to check me out.  Taking one look at me, she instantly decided that we needed to go to the emergency room. I had a huge contusion on my head, scrapes on my knee and I couldn’t put any pressure or weight on my knee.

Trust me when I tell you, you can’t make this stuff up!  I was so beyond depressed about this incident, but ever so grateful that I had not passed out and fallen backwards into the spa where I would have surely drowned.  Someone was definitely looking out for me that day…

Counting my blessings for still being alive, we went off to the emergency room where they checked me out, took x-rays of my knee and eventually sent me home six hours later. They never wiped my head with all the blood, they left all the dried blood on my knees and they left all the dried blood from the IV on my arm. Not a good experience in the ER.