Home again!

What type of animal would you use to describe yourself?  Seems I've chosen a turkey.  Yes a turkey, not your typical cozy choice but in a later analogy in this blog it'll all make sense. A turkey is the most popular bird in Canada and the US come fall so that's kinda cool, except we eat the turkey...so maybe that's not so cool after all.  Let's move on shall we...gobble gobble!

The last week and a half brought many challenges and emotions while I was A La Hospital but it's also brought some memories I'll never forget.  I reflected on these memories yesterday after I was discharged.  I don't think I was alone for more than 1 hour a day, my friends and family constantly filled my room.  I'm thinking now I probably got a private room to shield other patients of my madness and my constant flow of visitors rather than my  unique condition.  I want to share these episode like moments with you like a new comedy on NBC obviously titled "A La Hospital" I just hope they come across as funny in writing as they were in person.  I will continue to share these episodes in other blogs as I can't share them all in one as  there are too many and this blog would be a novel in size.  No names shall be changed to protect any identities!

Hospital food...not the best but I give credit to the staff for running a tight ship.  Every day my glorious meals arrived on time and with a smile.  Keeping true to myself, I of course got to know my food porters and thanked them each time they dropped off my meal. Now here's the crazy part at least to me anyway. My meal times we're 7:30am, 11:30am, and 4:30pm.  I don't know about you but when in hospital I sleep at 730am and who eats dinner at 4:30, lunch makes sense though.  I don't think I ate a hot meal once, not because it came cold but because I was still sleeping.....duh...or too early a time for dinner.  I asked one day why so early and was told our floor was the first to get delivered so it made sense but still common!  When riding in the elevator back to my room after my MRI the food porter joined our elevator and said "See you in 5 minutes".

This next episode is probably the funniest of all now but not so much then!  As you know last Saturday I had incredible pain in my right leg so cancelled all visits just having family with me trying to cope.  My awesome nurses did all they could trying to stop my pain and 5 hours later the pain had subsided after many meds....many meds!  Early evening came and I said to cousin Steph I really wanted to see one of my BFFS Cathy.  She'd been away and I hadn't seen her since I was admitted.  Off went the text asking her to come see me after one hell of a painful day.   She of course said she'd come and asked what I needed.  An apple I said....and bring a knife to cut it up.  Soon after Cathy and her boyfriend arrive with a glorious apple. We hug & double kiss cause that's how we roll and she preps my apple and passes me a piece.  Just one bite in I felt sick "I think I'm gonna puke"!

Puking is nobody's favourite thing but I'm an awful puker.  I'll pace the hall and cry before I puke.  I joke if I could puke I'd be skinny, but in no way do I support eating disorders, it's just some Carly humour....ok back to the apple!

I'm laying in my bed freaking out that I'm about to puke.  Cathy presses the button on my bed to get me in an upright position (she later explains she didn't want me to choke on my vomit) but I scream as my sore leg is getting moved in the process.  They frantically look for something for me to puke in, Cathy goes in the bathroom and comes out with my sits bath in which I puke.  If you don't know what a sits bath is google it.  Nurses come racing in clean me up & Cathy feels like her apple has caused me pain.  What a moment, one I'll never forget.

I was told some more factual information about my progress. I've always been high risk since day 1 and remain so today even after the removal of Big Kahuna.  In July two lymph nodes in my groin were removed and they were stage 3.  I had more cancerous cells in my groin which were treated by radiation and chemotherapy. I've begun round 2 of healing
from this surgery so it shows that radiation has really done a number on me.  My skin is so fragile in that area so we expect a hard recovery when I get Winnie (colostomy surgery). Hence the hyperbaric chamber. My super healing journey could start as early as Tuesday and  I pray that whomever are in the chamber with we can at least talk some hockey. Come March-ish another PET scan will be done to ensure radiation has done it's job and no more cancer has grown back.  Radiation has done lots to me including zapping my reproductive system, bye-bye babies, along with things I need not mention but you can assume.  If I can't have a kid (totally OK with that) because of radiation then gosh darn it all my cancer will be gone!

For now I concentrate on my upcoming move.  I'm fortunate to have secured an apartment almost next door to my parents at an affordable price so I don't have to move in with my folks but were still super close if I need help or let's face it a home cooked meal!  My folks need not worry about living with my cat Simba although I think my dad was kind of looking forward to that.  Let's just say a laser pointer, my cat and my dad equals dad laughing extremely hard.  It's always fun setting up a new place and I have lots of helpers for all aspects of my move.  

So now about my calling myself a turkey.  It's an analogy I use explaining my surgery to people who don't quite get it.  A turkey is usually stuffed with stuffing and then stitched up.  Well....big kahuna was the stuffing and the reason I got an infection is because the stitching came apart after they removed big kahuna.  Are you having an ah-ha moment now.....make more sense.  Turkey Carly...that's me!

#carly2conquercancer

XOXO

C