The next two weeks

Over the next two weeks I had many scans to check on fluid around my brain. I'm a pro at MRIs by this point!

My freshly painted toes.

I spent my days in bed. Every now and then my nurse would like me to get up and sit in my chair. I would for a little bit, but I preferred my bed. I watched Netflix and Hulu or slept. My mom was still here with me and her friend Bes came often. She would bring in the food she made.

My two aunts that live in Milwaukee would come visit, too. One night my Aunt Liza gave me a pedicure. It was so nice to have painted toes! During my time in the hospital I found out that she had breast cancer. She had surgery and all is well now. She was a couple months behind me on the chemo, hair loss and everything else that goes along with it! Its nice having someone else to talk to about things that most haven't been through.

The new Picc line.

I also had a picc line put in. My chemo port was being used and I had an IV in my arm.

I either needed more IV's or could get a picc line put in.

I chose that instead.

It goes in your upper arm and to get it put in was pretty painless. A nurse that has a full time job of putting picc lines in came to my room with an ultrasound machine and a rolling drawer with a lot of supplies. He had to sanitize the area and hooked my chest up to a bunch of wires to watch my heart rate. I had to keep my head to the left as he worked on my right arm.  He said he has done this so many times he almost has it perfected to no pain for me.

I first got a numbing shot. It stings for a short minute and then its numb. He used the ultrasound machine to find the vein he was going to hook it up to. He started putting it in and during the process he would keep giving me numbing shots before the one prior would wear off. Before I knew it, he was done and the picc was being used.

A drain tube, penrose drain
and hair starting to grow!

In the ICU, I was always hooked up to a heart monitor. I had the sticky wires all over my chest at all times. I also had a blood pressure cuff on at all times. If everything was on track the blood pressure machine only went off once an hour, so I would slip it off in between and set my alarm to get it on in time for the next time I needed my blood pressure taken.  I had an oxygen monitor on my finger. This drove me nuts. It was hooked to a cord and made it hard to do anything without getting tangled up. I had the leg cuffs on too. They kept me from getting blood clots in my legs since I wasn't moving much. I wore them sometimes and took then off at times too. My legs would get itchy from having them on!

So add the picc line, IV, and my port hooked up...I was attached to so many things! To go to the bathroom was a process because most of the cords had to be disconnected and the IV machine had to come with me.

Fluid that comes out of drain tube.
Emptied and measured daily

I had new drain tubes in my head again and also had a soft rubber tube. That one is called a penrose. After a little while, I had the two big drain tubes removed. No problems this time getting them out. Staples put in place again too. The entire top of my head was now numb so that helped a lot with them messing with it because I couldn't feel anything up there. The side was still more tender though.

Every day, my NP would come in and remove the gauze, look at my incision and we would discuss anything on my mind. She would ask what our goals are today. If there were any questions I had, she would get the answers for me. She was great! And she was having a baby so we would discuss that often, too.

Swelling is getting better.
Eye still swollen

 Like I said in a previous post, I became close with some of my nurses. One of my nurses, when she walked in for the first time one day, she looked at me and said, "why don't we have you sit in your chair, eat your breakfast and then I will get you towels, warm soapy water and a new gown to wear."  The thought didn't sound appealing at all, but after I did it, I'd feel a million times better.

She could tell by looking at me that I needed a pick-me-up.

Another nurse, she was there one day when I had an MRI and depending on the results would mean if I needed another surgery. We were so anxious waiting for the results. I couldn't eat anything that day just in case I was going back in. When the results were in, the nurse came with the news. She told us that I didn't have to have surgery and she had tears in her eyes! It was so sweet to see how involved they get.  It was always such an emotional roller coaster for everyone.

 It was hard to get a good nights sleep because the nurse had to come in and do a neuro exam every two hours. After about two weeks in there they would let me go 4 hours during the night. I would usually get up and use the bathroom and get some more pain meds and try to fall back to sleep. Some nights I had to watch a show or go on my phone for a while before I could fall asleep again.

Was so happy to see my kids!

Always hid that bad eye in photos!

 My kids were able to come visit me while I was in here. It was hard for them the first time they saw me.

They had to walk through the ICU seeing all of the other patients before getting to my room and then they had to see me with a swollen eye and wrapped head.

After they did some crying, they were okay and we had fun visiting with each other. They came and went from the hospital over the next day before they had to go back home.

About two weeks after surgery, I noticed when the gauze came off I had a brown head! It was so exciting to see my hair was finally coming back. Each day it seems like so much more. After a few weeks in the ICU, we seemed to have things under control. I was told I could move to 6KLM. It was the neuro floor.  I liked the idea of that, but would miss my nurses on the ICU floor.

Making progress!