Setback – Readmitted

I had a good day Saturday.  I was with Brian and Bridget in Jamaica Plain.  I got moved into the third floor and took a shower in the morning.  At noon, a visiting nurse came, and we together changed out the bag of antibiotic I had used up and replaced it with a new bag.  Unfortunately, we reached a point in the process where the information on the screen of the pump did not match the picture in the directions.  So the nurse agreed to come back at 1PM on Sunday to work with me on it.  All looked OK.

Saturday afternoon Sandy Campbell, an old friend from lacrosse-playing days, came to be with me.  We went for a walk in the Arnold Arboretum, which is quite close to Brian & Bridget’s.  It was a little chilly, and I walked very slowly.  I rested on park benches a couple of times.  It was a really pretty walk, with gorgeous late afternoon light on some cedar-like trees whose needles had turned tan.  When we got back, I took a nap, as I was pretty tired.  We had a nice dinner – me with pasta and veggies, while everybody else had take-out Thai food.  [I am not allowed take-out restaurant food for now, as you never know how it was prepared.]

Sunday morning I had what I thought would be a routine visit to the outpatient part of the Stem Cell Transplant Unit.  They inserted an IV for blood tests and started me on intravenous fluids.  I mentioned that a rash had spread to my chest and stomach.  A resident covering for the weekend came in to look at the rash, and he decided it was a serious reaction to the medicine I was receiving through the pump.  Eventually, they decided to readmit me to the hospital, and put me on a new antibiotic.  At worst, they said, I would only be in for one night.  Well, I heard nothing from the doctors until about 4PM today.  They had decided to put me on Vancomycin.  They were arranging for me to receive that at home, but the agency supplying the home doses could not arrange for a person to see me at home and train me in administering the new medicine in less than 24 hours.  So I am in Beth Israel again tonight.  They assure me that all will be arranged tomorrow, but the earliest I can expect to be released is early afternoon.  So I am a prisoner again.

The good news is that with the new medicine, the rash on my chest and tummy has receded.  It never was as serious a rash as I had on my back.  At any rate, it is fading away.  In the scale of things, being readmitted is not that bad.  I certainly know the ropes, and I am feeling quite well.  Initially, I was a bit bored, as I am reading a Thomas Friedman book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded, which was written back in 2009.  The frustrating thing is that what he says is right on in terms of climate change and world ecological issues – and we have collectively done nothing about them in the last 3 years.  Bridget brought in my PC this afternoon, and obviously, I am getting a chance to update the blog.

A setback, but not a tragedy.  Meanwhile, Barbie had a triumphant concert on Sunday.  All the reviews were top notch, and she even admits herself that it came together nicely.  I look forward to listening to the CD.