Monday, December 04, 2006
No More Hickman Catheter
On May 12th of this year, I went through surgery to have my Hickman Catheter inserted. This catheter has been used for the past six and a half months for receiving transfusions of blood and platelets, getting my blood tests drawn, receiving all the mega-medications in the hospital, receiving the precious bone marrow from my donor, receiving hydration, nutrition and many other products. Due to the lack of use, they finally removed it this past Friday! At every appointment, now they'll have to draw blood from my veins again. But that's okay. I'm happy to be free from these lines which protruded from my body. I can't tell you how often I caught them on things and made the exit site bleed. That's not a good thing.
The other good news is my platelets are continuing to climb along with my hemoglobin. On Friday, 12/1, my platelets were at 98! My Hemoglobin was at 11.2. These counts haven't been this good in over a year. Actually, when I was first diagnosed as having a blood or marrow disorder over four years ago, my platelets were right about where they are now!! Amazing! Now let's get them into Normal range and get on with our lives!!!
Talking about getting on with our lives, our oldest son, Scott, turned 18 yesterday! How on earth can he be 18 years old already? And how is it that I've only aged a fraction of these 18 years in the same amount of time? (no, not 17/18! ha ha) I'm proud of Scott. The past few years have been a little rough for all of us, but he's done fine and has grown stronger by going through all of this. He's looking forward to graduating this summer and starting college next fall! He is strong in physics and may pursue an engineering degree. He also loves art!
Thank you for following my blog. In case I don't blog for a while, it's because I don't have an appointment for a whole month!! woo hoo..... yes, a whole month. I'm still suppose to be careful and try not to get exposed to people who may be sick. I can be found wearing my mask religiously whenever I'm out and about. To help with limiting my exposure, Mark & I have completed most of the Christmas shopping (and most of the wrapping.) I guess I'm ready for the holidays, that's something I wasn't sure I was even going to tackle this year... but I was able to do it with ease (with Marks help)! I feel fortunate that this year is ending on a good note. I plan to continue on this road to recovery in 2007! I thank you all for your support during this past year! My family and I thank you all from the bottom of our hearts! We couldn't have done it without all of you!
We wish you a happy holiday season and Thank you, Thank you, Thank you again!!!
love you all, nancy
The other good news is my platelets are continuing to climb along with my hemoglobin. On Friday, 12/1, my platelets were at 98! My Hemoglobin was at 11.2. These counts haven't been this good in over a year. Actually, when I was first diagnosed as having a blood or marrow disorder over four years ago, my platelets were right about where they are now!! Amazing! Now let's get them into Normal range and get on with our lives!!!
Talking about getting on with our lives, our oldest son, Scott, turned 18 yesterday! How on earth can he be 18 years old already? And how is it that I've only aged a fraction of these 18 years in the same amount of time? (no, not 17/18! ha ha) I'm proud of Scott. The past few years have been a little rough for all of us, but he's done fine and has grown stronger by going through all of this. He's looking forward to graduating this summer and starting college next fall! He is strong in physics and may pursue an engineering degree. He also loves art!
Thank you for following my blog. In case I don't blog for a while, it's because I don't have an appointment for a whole month!! woo hoo..... yes, a whole month. I'm still suppose to be careful and try not to get exposed to people who may be sick. I can be found wearing my mask religiously whenever I'm out and about. To help with limiting my exposure, Mark & I have completed most of the Christmas shopping (and most of the wrapping.) I guess I'm ready for the holidays, that's something I wasn't sure I was even going to tackle this year... but I was able to do it with ease (with Marks help)! I feel fortunate that this year is ending on a good note. I plan to continue on this road to recovery in 2007! I thank you all for your support during this past year! My family and I thank you all from the bottom of our hearts! We couldn't have done it without all of you!
We wish you a happy holiday season and Thank you, Thank you, Thank you again!!!
love you all, nancy
