You give and take away for my good
For who am I to say what I need?
For You alone see the hidden parts of me
that need to be stripped away.
[laura.story]
Well folks, as of this past Tuesday, the long 6 months have come to an end. (cue the angels in heaven rejoicing). It is definitely not an understatement to say that we are all very happy and excited for the conclusion of this journey. Personally, and as a family, we have all learned so much from this experience - more that could fit in a blog post (comfortably at least). So sets of three are always good. Thus begins my three part “series” overviewing all that has happened the past 6 months.
Um...yeah. So I’m the type of person who is a color-coding freak. When it comes to school planners everything is neatly written and I put all my exam/paper dates down on the calendar organized by color for quick reference. [as for the organization of my room, well that’s a work in progress...you can ask my mom.]
So why not name things too? I decided to name my PICC line George. For those of you who don’t know what a PICC line is, it’s basically a flexible tube thing that goes through a vein in my right arm that bends around to the large vein near the heart. So this tube thing was used to give me all my drugs and fluids and draw blood for labs (because who wants to get stuck with a needle a million times?).
Then as I started losing my hair I got a wig (which happens to be the exact color of my natural hair..kinda weird) and I proudly named her Lucy. Don’t ask me why - but it might be related to Lucille Ball and the “I Love Lucy” show which I grew up on.
And last but certainly not least: the oxygen tanks. You thought naming my wig was weird? Well, it just got a lot more interesting. There were three different types of tanks: an electronic stationary tank, 3 small portable tanks, and a large tank (for emergency purposes like no power, etc). So basically all that is happening in those tanks are bubbles floating around (well not everything, but you get the idea). Yup, so Bubbles was the name of my stationary tank. Then there were the baby triplet Bubbles (portable tanks). Then Grandma Bubbles was the large tank (it was on wheels...I found it appropriate). Not to mention in high school I was given the nickname "Bubbles" - so yeah, it kinda fit.
And last but certainly not least: the oxygen tanks. You thought naming my wig was weird? Well, it just got a lot more interesting. There were three different types of tanks: an electronic stationary tank, 3 small portable tanks, and a large tank (for emergency purposes like no power, etc). So basically all that is happening in those tanks are bubbles floating around (well not everything, but you get the idea). Yup, so Bubbles was the name of my stationary tank. Then there were the baby triplet Bubbles (portable tanks). Then Grandma Bubbles was the large tank (it was on wheels...I found it appropriate). Not to mention in high school I was given the nickname "Bubbles" - so yeah, it kinda fit.
2. Starbursts are a gift from God - seriously though.
So because George is a fragile thing, it needs to be cleaned. This requires weekly bandage dressing changes and it being “flushed”. The flushing process is just a tube of saline to clear the line of any small pieces of fiber or something... (can you tell I’m NOT a medical person?) When the day is done they also put heprine in to keep it un-clotted for the week. Throughout all of the 6 months, George only “acted up” and was clogged twice.
Okay so with the Starbursts... I don’t know how else to put it except for the fact that saline tastes nasty! It didn’t effect me at first, but as the months went on, man oh man did it make me sick. I tried Jolly Ranchers to take the taste away - didn’t help. Then, I discovered the magical-ness (yes that is a word) of Starbursts.
3. Find a cave and prepare to watch many baseball games and movies on Netflix.
During the beginning months when I was in a lot of pain (as a result of the tumor breaking apart) and sick, I didn’t really feel like doing much. So that’s when you hide in your dark basement (aka: cave) and focus on watching many baseball games (go Nats!) on television and random things on Netflix with your mom. And when you are really feeling good and not sick, Food Network stalking is always a good thing (more on that later).
We definitely experienced some great memories during these times. But most of the time it wasn’t all butterflies and unicorns. Dear Mr. Hodgkins (part 2) coming up next...
So because George is a fragile thing, it needs to be cleaned. This requires weekly bandage dressing changes and it being “flushed”. The flushing process is just a tube of saline to clear the line of any small pieces of fiber or something... (can you tell I’m NOT a medical person?) When the day is done they also put heprine in to keep it un-clotted for the week. Throughout all of the 6 months, George only “acted up” and was clogged twice.
Okay so with the Starbursts... I don’t know how else to put it except for the fact that saline tastes nasty! It didn’t effect me at first, but as the months went on, man oh man did it make me sick. I tried Jolly Ranchers to take the taste away - didn’t help. Then, I discovered the magical-ness (yes that is a word) of Starbursts.
3. Find a cave and prepare to watch many baseball games and movies on Netflix.
During the beginning months when I was in a lot of pain (as a result of the tumor breaking apart) and sick, I didn’t really feel like doing much. So that’s when you hide in your dark basement (aka: cave) and focus on watching many baseball games (go Nats!) on television and random things on Netflix with your mom. And when you are really feeling good and not sick, Food Network stalking is always a good thing (more on that later).
We definitely experienced some great memories during these times. But most of the time it wasn’t all butterflies and unicorns. Dear Mr. Hodgkins (part 2) coming up next...
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