I'm out of here

All right folks. The fever is gone, I'm off the antibiotics, and my doctor says I can go home. I'm ditching this place in the morning. Or maybe the afternoon. Whenever the paper work is finished. I think it's the only time I liked the 8 Am doctor visit.
Of course now we need to pack up the hospital room. I've collected a lot of stuff over the last three and a half weeks. I already sent mom and dad home with some of the stuff. But there is still a ton here. I think I'm going to have to take a nap while they pack up the van tomorrow. Not that its unusually for me to nap during the day. And apparently, fresh air is going to tire me out in a big way.
In fact, Dr Ahmed has sort of restricted my activities fort he next week. I'm not to go anywhere cause he's is afraid I'm going to exhaust myself. I do however, get to see him on monday. Apparently he isn't afraid that I'm going to tire myself out at the doctor's office. Anyway, I'm heading to bed now. I'll let you all know when I'm home.
-Elizabeth

An Update

(in the style of "Mom")

9:54 AM: curious why I hadn't heard from mom; it's been nearly five hours...called home to make sure she was still breathing; inform her about latest test results...which she already knew, as she had already called the nurse's station this morning... twice. Fine....then bring me food.

11:07 AM: Mom arrives with 1 portion farina, 1 tupperware chicken soup, both in a white Stop and Shop plastic bag. She seems in good spirits.

11:08 AM: Mom grabs Clorox wipes and begins to wipe down anything immobile. And Amy....was that Amy? was Amy even here? Barbara was here. But that wasn't until 12...I dunno...it all starts to look the same...

11:10 AM: Mom force feeds me farina. F.f.f.f.f.f...Better than frisbee pancakes....I don't even know what that means.

11:37 AM: Mom begins crossword puzzle....39 across...mythical creatures...four letters....begins with o, ends with s. ORCS (she's lucky to have me) Her blood pressure seems to rise and fall with each unanswered question.

12:00 NOON Mom growing anxious. Isn't anyone coming to help....help.

12:02 Cousin Barbara arrives. Mom departs for midday nurse-harassment. I hear weeping. Who's crying?

12:05 None of the nurses will look mom in the eye.

2:11 PM Dad arrives. Finds crossword puzzle gift from Barbara (who left...when the nurses stopped crying...); Dad works on crossword puzzle. Mom does too...but not on the same one.

2:12 PM For the 17th time, mom inquires about my thirst. Would I like some juice? She would gladly pour it for me, if I would drink it...(do you hear the inflection go up in my voice? No? Try again...)

2:34 PM The Fellow (Doctor-person) explains possible release scenarios. Mom begins to cringe and the sudden increase in blood pressure causes her to disregard all that the underling says.

2:35 PM Asks nurse to call for "real" doctor. Nurse looks scared and runs away.

2:42 PM Real doctor arrives. Gives mom sedative. Says he will come back when she promises to behave. (Just Kidding.) real doctor says the same thing that the Fellow said; but with authority. Mom decompresses.

Too tired to write more...but rest assured, you'll get a full report from mom regarding every minute and totally inconsequential detail in about (3....2.....1....)

Mom Given The Chance To Use My Blog (Elizabeth edits)

So it was Elizabeth suggestion that I blog officially to let you all know that she is hanging in there. Of course she warned me that I should jot down notes before I blog as I have a tendancy to ramble....But since the name of this blog is RAMBLINGS, I'll take my chances and live dangerously.

It is early Sunday evening and although Elizabeth still has a low grade fever, she is so much better than she was last evening. Still unable to smell food (or even discuss it), she is thirsty and drinking juice and gingerale by the cup full. Unable to focus on real reading, she did enjoy todays Sunday funnies and of course the latest batch of cards. Her joint pain is being controlled by a variety of "funny drugs" but they don't seem to do much for her mood.....still grouchy (wonder if she'll edit that?)

Her nurse Annie just stuck her head in with TERRIFIC NEWS. She just got Elizabeth's blood test results from this afternoon and her white blood cells have jumped from .5 to 1.7 THAT IS AMAZING. Of course, I felt bad for the nurse who came in grinning from ear to ear to hear EJ respond with "then why do I still feel like crap?". The next thing she said was "then I can go home tomorrow!" Remember that the magic number is 2.0 for WBC....but also no Anti-biotics for an infections, able to eat solids,etc.....but maybe by the end of this week?????

Think possitively....Of course, leave it to Elizabeth to be discharged on Friday March 23rd and steal the thunder of Katrina's birthday.........OR, leave it to Katrina to have a birthday and steal the thunder of Elizabeth coming home. They always were competitive. Maybe Elizabeth will be discharged on Thursday and they're won't be a conflict :)

That's my update for now. Leave your comments.
-Mil

Sorry for the short update.

But I have to get this in before midnight. The blog is one year old today. March 13. So this is a blog birthday.
As for me. I'm doing fine. I'll update some more later.
Elizabeth

I have been invaded. They sit there with their creepy green masks. They talk, but it is hard to understand them. UH. and here come more. These are not of the strange "masked" variety. However, the one resembling my father comes in with a Carebear Birthday Balloon. I now have visions of some screaming child chasing him down the hall . "I want my balloon, back."
Who are these strangers? Where did they come from? How did they get past the guards?
....Oh, no. One is coming towards me. It speaks my name. It says...

Well. I can't quite remember. In the reverse of a normal nightmare, I actually was awake for the first part and fell asleep for the rest.
I am still here and I am still alive. Although not doing nearly as well as I was a few days ago. I got my last chemo on Sunday. My brother Paul flew in from Chicago and spent the next few days with me. It was really nice to have him here, but I felt a little badly. My body just wasn't able to tstay awake. I fell asleep a lot. I 'd wake up from a nap and paul would be sitting there reading a book. I'm just loads of fun right now.
On to the news. This is the end of day 1. Yesterday, day 0, I got my stemcells back. It unfortunatly coincides with the low period of my counts so I'm sicka nd achy and cranky and tired and ....(Don't smile. I'm not always like that)
No, for the most part I still think I'm doing OK. I have bad patches in the mornings. Yes, I have had to use the call button from the bathroom twice, cause I was so sick I couldn't move. But this is really all to be expected. Sucks...but expected.
Anyway, as I was saying, Paul has been here for the last few days. He and Carol both sat with me today, which was good for them because I slept until 2. They kept eachother company. Then Paul left for the airport and Katrina and Chuck showed up. Now because Kat, Chuck and Carol are all teachers and can not vouch for the germs they pick up from their students, they all decided to wear masks. Hence my opening sequence. I did get a happy birthday balloon from my father, but I'm pretty sure he bought it with his own money. And no, it is not my birthday, It just what they call getting your stemcells back. your new birth. DAy 1.
That's really all I have in me for tonight. Erica will be here tomorrow. Maybe Ill let her blog. She hasn't yet.
Night
Elizabeth