An order of hot wings, to go please....

The morning starts out frustrating for Zack. After a night of little sleep, mostly due to having to get up to use the bathroom and extreme nausea. He is awakened at 6:30 for vitals check. I guess on the weekend they "try" and let you sleep a little longer. Today we have Melissa, who has taken care of us for a long time now. She knows our routine and pretty much goes with the flow. I am still in pain from diverticulitis, which decided to make its grand entrance Thursday night. I went downstairs to the main floor and talked to the pharmacist. She asked if "I was under a lot of stress." Once I stopped laughing long enough to answer, she gave me some ideas on what to do, but advised strongly, that if I continue in pain, to go to the ER. I am doing everything possible to keep from going to there which, though conveniently is downstairs, is more expensive and not as pleasant to to work with as Urgent Care. 

Knowing we will be going home around 10 pm today, I undo my double mattress bed and place one on the hospital bed (which was removed last night) and the other in the hall. The room already appears larger! Zack is still sleeping, so I am as quiet as possible as I get the room in order. I don't want to pack everything up just yet as we have learned that situations can change in a minute. As I straighten up the room, Melissa comes in to check his blood pressure and temperature, which thank God is normal. All of this was accomplished without waking him up. However, we did need to wake him for his Lovenox shot. He sits up, wipes his eyes, takes the alcohol swab, cleans the area on his stomach, takes the syringe and gives himself the shot. Within minutes he lays back down and is again sound asleep. About thirty minutes later, the Doctor walks in. He looks at Zack saying "I heard he didn't sleep well, can you wake him up, I need to check him out." Coward!!! Ha Ha... I wake up Zack AGAIN!!! This time, he is not so pleasant. Good thing he choose not to use his words. He simply lets the Doctor check the inside of his mouth (they look for blisters, which thankfully has not happened to Zack), checks his heart rate, pulse and again his stomach. I think someone should make up a rap song about the treatment procedures, Hey Eminem where are you? Everything checks out fine and the Doc says we will be discharged late tonight baring no complications. Zack goes to lay down and no dice! He stands up, goes to the rest room and announces "Great! NOW I'm awake!" 

The past couple of days food and drinks just don't taste right. The ONLY thing he enjoys are hot wings. I go to the front desk and ask if there are restrictions (due to the flu warnings) regarding food delivery. We never exchanged names, but she knows us all too well. She says "hot wings for Zack?" I nod and say "yup, it's the only thing he likes right now and if Zack's happy, Mama's happy." She laughs and says "GO FOR IT!". I call Rhonda who would love to go to lunch and  then I order hot wings, cheesy bread and a drink to be delivered to Pediatric Wing. 

The room after packing up!

I see a glimmer of light in Zack's eyes. He is coming back to life, at least for the moment. I receive a text from Amy and Bill, who along with Rhonda have been our constant Hospital visitors. Lawrel was planning on coming for lunch one day, but the flu has hit their office and she wants to make sure she doesn't bring anything, so we agree to meet another time. Having someone come by and see Zack, even if he is not in the best of moods, helps to break up the time. He feels caged in and when he has visitors, he forgets, if even just for a short time, that he is stuck here. The nurses tell us they can visit, which thrills us!

Before heading out to lunch with Rhonda, Zacks lunch arrives. As I walk down the hall, Chris (remember Vin Diesel "almost" look alike) comments, "lunch, hot wings, cool, tell Zack I'll be down there soon to have lunch with him." Zack gets a kick out of his comment and says "well he better hurry, 'cause it's all gonna be gone in a minute." Rhonda calls to say she is on her way, so I go downstairs to meet her. I just need a couple of hours to get out and walk around. I'm still not feeling well, but hoping that walking around with help some. Since Amy and Bill are on their way, I don't feel so bad leaving him, knowing he will have company (which is not Mom or Dad!).

Rhonda made me do it!

Rhonda and I had a great time, she drove so I didn't have to deal with the pain of finding a parking spot. We took our time, about three hours and enjoyed catching up on the past few weeks. We did some bargain shopping a our favorite store (no free advertising, sorry). When we returned Zack was sleeping and finishing up his chemo treatment for the day. Once he woke up he and Rhonda visited for awhile. She was asking him about his future plans for school. He looked like a deer in headlights. I guess he thought she already knew what his plans are, so he shares them with her. Being a former teacher, my sister asks a hundred questions. To each, Zack just shrugs his shoulders. To him, that is saying "I know what my plans are, that's all that matters." She was sharing how much fun Nashville was when she lived there and knows that he is going to love it there. I personally am grateful he is waiting a couple of years. He has a little more healing to do when all of this is done and growing up a bit more wouldn't hurt either. Though it is a college environment and he would live on campus, so if he decides to go next year, we would support him 100%! For now we concentrate on getting past the treatments and a clear bill of health.

Protecting myself 

After Rhonda leaves, I start to feel worse. I decided, poor planning on my part, to go online and see when Urgent Care in Brevard opens on Sunday (tomorrow), well, they are closed. So I am heading downstairs to the Emergency Room in the Hospital. This is not something we want to mess with and I think I have given it plenty of time to clear up on its own. Zack is in the middle of a movie and FB'ing with his friends so he tells me to go on and get done what I must do. After checking in, getting vitals done, blood drawn and waiting for two and a half hours, I politely go to the front desk and tell them I'm checking myself out. I spoke with a woman sitting next to me and she told me she had been there four hours and still was told it would be another hour or two, AND being told there were 120 people waiting to be seen, I decided someone else must need to be seen more than me.

Thank God I was able to call Rhonda during my waiting period and she brought Zack dinner while I was stuck downstairs. When I arrived back at the room she was sitting with Zack, just hanging out watching a movie. She didn't want to leave him alone and didn't want me worrying about him. Even though he stays alone during the day and occasionally when I run out to get lunch, I just felt I was pushing it so close to discharge time. NOTHING stands in the way of our leaving and on time.

Zack and I start to get goofy as the night progresses. As much as I'm ready to get out, Imagine how Zack must feel. His nausea is not as bad tonight, he is on his special medicine which will help as long as he takes it every 12 hours for a day or so. He is trying not to get too excited about seeing his friends tomorrow, he hopes he doesn't end up in bed all day feeling sick, as he had the last time he had chemo. We are both excited about going home, being in our own beds and waking up without being disturbed. We are grateful for the care all the nurses showed us and until next month, wish them all the best.