Home At Last

Day +13 discharged from hospital

I’ve spent 19 days in hospital and I have finally been discharged!

On Monday when Professor Snowden came to tell me I could go home I was over the moon. To be honest it was quicker than I thought as we were expecting about 21 days or more in hospital. They were very happy with how the treatment had gone; I hadn’t experienced any spikes in temperature which was the main concern and I hadn’t experienced any side effects. I still can’t quite believe that it’s gone so smoothly so far. I’ve followed lots of others who’ve had this treatment and they have struggled with some awful side effects so I am really counting my blessings so far. I even started to question whether it had worked because I hadn’t had a bad time but my blood count dropped as expected so it must have worked.

Prof Snowden was concerned about Covid 19. He was concerned about the children being around me because we all know they are germ breeders. We discussed options for minimising the risks. He suggested I might at my mum and dads and saw the children at their house during the day but avoided being with them at night time and in bed. However, we have decided that I will stay at home with Jay and the children and we will keep Archie off nursery for two weeks and basically isolate ourselves at home till my blood count shows my immune system getting stronger. That also means Jay has got two weeks off work; so guess what, he’s got a long list of jobs to do in the house and garden!

Having the Hickman line out was a lot easier than having it put in! Two local anaesthetic injections around the exit point, stitches out and then the doctor just tugged it out. Almost painless. The local anaesthetic hurt the most. I did have a slight reaction to the plaster he put on to cover the wound. It went all red and itchy. Goodness knows why I’m having reactions to things all of a sudden. Anyway, hypoallergenic plaster on now so all sorted.
I’ve just watched the YouTube video of the Hickman line being inserted and my first time was probably similar, but I know that the second time I had it done was a lot more difficult and uncomfortable than that one. But it was obviously worth it because once it was fitted it worked perfectly; no blockages or infections this time.

After being told I could go home in the morning, at 5.30pm we were still sat waiting for medication from the pharmacy. And I was getting more and more frustrated that I wouldn’t see my babies until the next morning! In the end we left without the medication and said we would pick it up the next day. So thankfully I made it back home before they went to bed.

I have quite enjoyed sitting and watching BBC News every morning with a cup of warm tea instead of having to watch children’s programs with half a cup of cold tea. It’s been luxury.
However, I’m more than ready to watch Paw Patrol or Pepper Pig with my boys now.

So now I just need time to recover and build my immune system up. I’m sure this bits going to be a rollercoaster.