Over the next couple of days, I made some progress as far as walking goes. I could walk unassisted for short distances and had managed to climb a few stairs and walk on the sand. In the "coherent" department I was deteriorating. We would be sitting somewhere and my eyes would just roll back in my head and I would pass out. I was also running a low grade fever. We bought a thermometer Wednesday morning and my temp was 101. I spent the morning at the beach and after lunch it had gone up to 103.3 That was too high. Will and my dad went into the other room and had a little discussion. They came out and told me in no uncertain terms that I was going home. It was about 1pm. We grabbed our passports and wallets and my dad drove us to the airport. We were able to get on the 3pm flight. The bonus of being in a wheel chair is you don't have to wait at security or customs. Anyways, we got on the plane and arranged for Will's parents to meet us at the airport in Vancouver. The flight was smooth. My fever had broken and I was convinced that the next morning we would be flying back to Maui.
Van and Maura picked us up and took us to Richmond Hospital. It appeared that the wait was going to be a few hours so we decided to drive to Penticton. We arrived at the ER just before 6am. I was immediately hooked up iv antibiotics (figured better to start the antibiotics before waiting for test results). Blood was taken. I was then taken for an assortment of X-rays. I kept explaining to everyone that the bruises and how I was walking was related to the accident, not why I was here. During an abdominal X-ray, the tech comes out and says, "I can't say anything, but make sure your doctor looks at your pelvis". Before I had made it back to my room, I was called in for a ct scan to check on the pelvis. Sure enough there was a crack in front and in back. The Radiologist came into the room and was laughing so hard that I had been walking around with a broken pelvis for the past 5 days and had no idea.
Once back in the room, a doctor came and saw us and said that my hemoglobin was really low (59). Apparently the broken pelvis would cause the drop in hemoglobin and also my fever and why I had no energy and kept falling asleep. It looks like it won't need surgery. Thank goodness! I was so excited that I had some medical thing that was NOT related to cancer. But then, really, cancer AND a broken pelvis in a year??
I was admitted to the hospital to receive blood transfusions. I received 4 units and wow did those every make me feel better. While there I saw a lot of different doctors. I was asked if I wanted to come home or stay to recover, I jumped at the come home part. The doctor laughed. I also saw a OT and a PT that set me up with lots of equipment for use at home. The walker is awesome.
I was so excited to get home. The first thing I did was walk up the stairs to have a shower. It was great to be with the kids again as well. Unfortunately during the night, I discovered I couldn't sleep in my bed. It is much more comfortable to be upright. My sister moved me onto the couch and this afternoon a hospital bed was dropped off for me to sleep in.
We are so thankful for the amount of help we have. Not just with our families, but with our amazing friends who have organized food drop off. We are going to be well fed over here.
Will is doing well. His walking is getting much better and the cuts on his feet are started to heel nicely. We are 1 week in. 5 more until he can bend or pick anything up.
As always, we really appreciate all your prayers and thoughts!
p.s. am taking some pretty strong pain killers so if certain parts don't make sense, that's why.
Sunday 17 February 2013
Monday 11 February 2013
You couldn't make this up...
Just a waning, this is really long. Feel free to skip the accident towards the bottom.
Okay so quick update on the medical stuff. My liver enzymes were still too high to receive chemo. They had come down a very slight amount, but not nearly enough. I was xrayed and stent is still in correct place so it's just a waiting game. The surgeon who put my stent in advised us not to go to Hawaii. He said I was still at risk for infection and my liver could potentially get worse while we are away. Because these are preexisting conditions they would not be covered under insurance. We decided to roll the dice and if something came up we would fly back to Canada ASAP.
Now the interesting stuff....
We drove down to Vancouver on Wednesday. I had an appointment so Will dropped me off and he and the kids were going to go to Granville Island and play in the kidzone. On the way there he realized our brakes were squealing and not working well. Luckily there is a repair shop right in the entrance and they were able to take the van in. The rear brakes had to be replaced. Luckily that all got dealt with and we had a working van again.
Thursday morning we flew to Hawaii. The kids were so excited, as were their parents. They were awesome on the plane. I sat with Sophie and she was so happy. My sister had made her a special little backpack full of activities and snacks and they kept her occupied. Will and Liam and my parents were together and they did well too. Liam was really good. We landed, got our car, and started driving.
My parents were staying in Ka'anapali and we were staying in Haiku for 2 nights. They are about 1.5hours apart. The drive was beautiful we stopped at a great store and got lots of yummy food and found our house. It was a huge "treehouse" in the middle of the jungle. It was gorgeous and secluded. Once we ate and got the kids in bed, Will and I relaxed on the lanai taking in the sounds and smells of the island. Ahh, our much awaited vacation in paradise was here!
The following day, my parents made the trek out to see where we were staying. We then went and ate at Mama's Fish House. It's an amazing restaurant with killer views. The kids were great once again and we finally felt like we were getting into vacation mode. We spent the afternoon at our place. The kids had fun running around the yard and lanai and looking at all the birds. We did absolutely nothing and it was perfect.
Saturday morning we woke up and I had this thought, "I'm sure glad we switched our flights to come early, we are only meant to be driving to Vancouver right now"
We packed up and had everyone dressed in bathing suits. We were planning on going to a lava field and nearby waterfall before heading to the resort in Ka'anapali. This is where things get really interesting.
We climbed into the car and Will backed up so we could turn around and get out the driveway. It had rained a ton and one wheel got a little stuck in the mud. I tried to put it in drive and give it gas as he pushed, it didn't work. Not 100% how the next few minutes happened, but I was outside the car pushing on the dash and Will was pushing from behind. Somehow I got the car into neutral or reverse or something and it started going backwards. We didn't realize we were at the edge of a hill. I tried to reach in and hit the brake with my hand and Will tried to jump into the car. We both failed and were both pushed over and dragged slightly downhill. Luckily the car door hit a tree and stopped the car. I got up and hobbled over to Sophie and took her out of her carseat. It was obvious the kids were okay. Thank God. Will was on the phone with 911 and he couldn't get up so I took the phone and crawled out of the ravine/ditch. It was total chaos from here. I managed to find the neighbour's license plate number so they could track us as we didn't know the address. I then climbed to the top of the driveway to wait. I could hear the kids screaming. Sophie was too scared to climb out and Will knew he was hurt so he didn't move. I knew I was hurt, but okay. Nothing was that painful so I knew I didn't have anything broken.
The cops came and carried Sophie and Liam to me. We got out of the rain and sat on a bench...and remained on the same bench for the next 4 hours. Once the ambulance arrived, they carried Will out on a spine board. That was pretty scary. He was strapped down with a neck brace. They asked if I wanted to get checked out and I said I did. However, they couldn't bring the kids in the ambulance, so that was out of the question. At some point a tow truck was called and my dad was called. The cops slowly left the scene. Once the tow truck arrived, we realized it hadn't brought a replacement car. I now realize I wouldn't have been able to drive it anyways. Plans changed and they left us one at the airport, my dad turned around and went to the airport and got the mini van and then continued the rest of the way to us. I broke down as soon as he got there. The kids had been awesome. They missed lunch (we shared a cookie and a piece of pita bread that was in our day pack) and Liam was missing his nap. We loaded the carseats in and all the suitcases and started driving towards the hospital.
When we got there, Will was still in emergency. He has two fractured ribs and 4 fractured vertebrae. They were planning on keeping him overnight for pain relief.
We continued towards the resort. By this point Kristie and Jonny had also landed and were on their way to the hotel. We got there and Kristie and Jonny took me and the kids and all our stuff to the room. I rode on a baggage cart! My dad went back to the hotel he and my mom had stayed in the past few days to find her. She hadnt heard from us for about 4 hours so was very relived to know that everyone was okay.
We are so thankful that we weren't injured worse, and that my family is here. Kristie and Jonny have spent the last 2 nights on our fold out couch so that they could deal with the kids in the middle of the night and help me get in and out of bed. I did go get xrays, and nothing is broken. I am just extremely bruised and swollen. If I am sitting still I am comfortable but it is really really hard to move.
Will ended up having to stay 2 nights at the hospital and just got back this afternoon. He is in a back brace and can't lift anything for 6 weeks.
It will be an unforgettable vacation to say the least.
Okay so quick update on the medical stuff. My liver enzymes were still too high to receive chemo. They had come down a very slight amount, but not nearly enough. I was xrayed and stent is still in correct place so it's just a waiting game. The surgeon who put my stent in advised us not to go to Hawaii. He said I was still at risk for infection and my liver could potentially get worse while we are away. Because these are preexisting conditions they would not be covered under insurance. We decided to roll the dice and if something came up we would fly back to Canada ASAP.
Now the interesting stuff....
We drove down to Vancouver on Wednesday. I had an appointment so Will dropped me off and he and the kids were going to go to Granville Island and play in the kidzone. On the way there he realized our brakes were squealing and not working well. Luckily there is a repair shop right in the entrance and they were able to take the van in. The rear brakes had to be replaced. Luckily that all got dealt with and we had a working van again.
Thursday morning we flew to Hawaii. The kids were so excited, as were their parents. They were awesome on the plane. I sat with Sophie and she was so happy. My sister had made her a special little backpack full of activities and snacks and they kept her occupied. Will and Liam and my parents were together and they did well too. Liam was really good. We landed, got our car, and started driving.
My parents were staying in Ka'anapali and we were staying in Haiku for 2 nights. They are about 1.5hours apart. The drive was beautiful we stopped at a great store and got lots of yummy food and found our house. It was a huge "treehouse" in the middle of the jungle. It was gorgeous and secluded. Once we ate and got the kids in bed, Will and I relaxed on the lanai taking in the sounds and smells of the island. Ahh, our much awaited vacation in paradise was here!
The following day, my parents made the trek out to see where we were staying. We then went and ate at Mama's Fish House. It's an amazing restaurant with killer views. The kids were great once again and we finally felt like we were getting into vacation mode. We spent the afternoon at our place. The kids had fun running around the yard and lanai and looking at all the birds. We did absolutely nothing and it was perfect.
Saturday morning we woke up and I had this thought, "I'm sure glad we switched our flights to come early, we are only meant to be driving to Vancouver right now"
We packed up and had everyone dressed in bathing suits. We were planning on going to a lava field and nearby waterfall before heading to the resort in Ka'anapali. This is where things get really interesting.
We climbed into the car and Will backed up so we could turn around and get out the driveway. It had rained a ton and one wheel got a little stuck in the mud. I tried to put it in drive and give it gas as he pushed, it didn't work. Not 100% how the next few minutes happened, but I was outside the car pushing on the dash and Will was pushing from behind. Somehow I got the car into neutral or reverse or something and it started going backwards. We didn't realize we were at the edge of a hill. I tried to reach in and hit the brake with my hand and Will tried to jump into the car. We both failed and were both pushed over and dragged slightly downhill. Luckily the car door hit a tree and stopped the car. I got up and hobbled over to Sophie and took her out of her carseat. It was obvious the kids were okay. Thank God. Will was on the phone with 911 and he couldn't get up so I took the phone and crawled out of the ravine/ditch. It was total chaos from here. I managed to find the neighbour's license plate number so they could track us as we didn't know the address. I then climbed to the top of the driveway to wait. I could hear the kids screaming. Sophie was too scared to climb out and Will knew he was hurt so he didn't move. I knew I was hurt, but okay. Nothing was that painful so I knew I didn't have anything broken.
The cops came and carried Sophie and Liam to me. We got out of the rain and sat on a bench...and remained on the same bench for the next 4 hours. Once the ambulance arrived, they carried Will out on a spine board. That was pretty scary. He was strapped down with a neck brace. They asked if I wanted to get checked out and I said I did. However, they couldn't bring the kids in the ambulance, so that was out of the question. At some point a tow truck was called and my dad was called. The cops slowly left the scene. Once the tow truck arrived, we realized it hadn't brought a replacement car. I now realize I wouldn't have been able to drive it anyways. Plans changed and they left us one at the airport, my dad turned around and went to the airport and got the mini van and then continued the rest of the way to us. I broke down as soon as he got there. The kids had been awesome. They missed lunch (we shared a cookie and a piece of pita bread that was in our day pack) and Liam was missing his nap. We loaded the carseats in and all the suitcases and started driving towards the hospital.
When we got there, Will was still in emergency. He has two fractured ribs and 4 fractured vertebrae. They were planning on keeping him overnight for pain relief.
We continued towards the resort. By this point Kristie and Jonny had also landed and were on their way to the hotel. We got there and Kristie and Jonny took me and the kids and all our stuff to the room. I rode on a baggage cart! My dad went back to the hotel he and my mom had stayed in the past few days to find her. She hadnt heard from us for about 4 hours so was very relived to know that everyone was okay.
We are so thankful that we weren't injured worse, and that my family is here. Kristie and Jonny have spent the last 2 nights on our fold out couch so that they could deal with the kids in the middle of the night and help me get in and out of bed. I did go get xrays, and nothing is broken. I am just extremely bruised and swollen. If I am sitting still I am comfortable but it is really really hard to move.
Will ended up having to stay 2 nights at the hospital and just got back this afternoon. He is in a back brace and can't lift anything for 6 weeks.
It will be an unforgettable vacation to say the least.
Monday 4 February 2013
More drama
Well I must say that this last month has thrown a few too many curve balls at me. I am ready for life to get back to normal and my treatments to get back on track.
Last weekend I felt fantastic! We spent an extra day at Apex and I was able to get in lots of skiing. I finally felt like I had fully recovered from everything that had gone on the past few weeks. What I didn't realize was that I was turning yellow.
We went Wednesday for our pre-chemo bloodwork. The first thing the nurse mentioned was how jaundiced I was. It was really obvious, so I'm not sure how I didn't notice it before. My liver numbers came back extremely elevated. The doctor didn't know why they would have gone up so much or what to do next. The options weren't great.
We got a call later that day saying that we were to have a CT scan. The radiologist was awesome and called us later that evening to give us the news. The liver stent I had put in a few weeks ago was gone! He said he had heard of it happening but never actually seen it. We were so happy that there was an explanation for my liver numbers being high.
Our doctors have been awesome, and we were hoping that we would be able to get another stent in asap, so I didn't eat or drink after midnight. At 8am the next morning we were on the phone with the doctor letting her now that I could go for an ERCP that day. She had already called the GI doctors, but hadn't been able to get through yet. Anyways, we weren't able to do it that day, but we were booked for first thing Friday morning.
I was extremely nervous going into this, as the last experience was less than pleasant. I asked very nicely for more sedation this time. The procedure went fine and I don't remember any of it. We had to stay for a while afterwards to receive IV antibiotics. Right away I felt better than I did last time. There was no pain. I took it easy and slept mostly for the rest of the day.
Saturday I felt good, so we headed up to Apex for the weekend. My back was bothering me a bit so I took it easy. On Sunday we went cross country skiing and then played with the kids outside. It was a great day.
We are heading in this morning for some bloodwork and then fingers crossed we will get chemo today! We are meant to leave here on Wednesday and fly out of Vancouver on Thursday, so we don't have a lot of extra time.
Will and I both think I am slightly less yellow than I was, so we are taking that as a good sign.
Last weekend I felt fantastic! We spent an extra day at Apex and I was able to get in lots of skiing. I finally felt like I had fully recovered from everything that had gone on the past few weeks. What I didn't realize was that I was turning yellow.
We went Wednesday for our pre-chemo bloodwork. The first thing the nurse mentioned was how jaundiced I was. It was really obvious, so I'm not sure how I didn't notice it before. My liver numbers came back extremely elevated. The doctor didn't know why they would have gone up so much or what to do next. The options weren't great.
We got a call later that day saying that we were to have a CT scan. The radiologist was awesome and called us later that evening to give us the news. The liver stent I had put in a few weeks ago was gone! He said he had heard of it happening but never actually seen it. We were so happy that there was an explanation for my liver numbers being high.
Our doctors have been awesome, and we were hoping that we would be able to get another stent in asap, so I didn't eat or drink after midnight. At 8am the next morning we were on the phone with the doctor letting her now that I could go for an ERCP that day. She had already called the GI doctors, but hadn't been able to get through yet. Anyways, we weren't able to do it that day, but we were booked for first thing Friday morning.
I was extremely nervous going into this, as the last experience was less than pleasant. I asked very nicely for more sedation this time. The procedure went fine and I don't remember any of it. We had to stay for a while afterwards to receive IV antibiotics. Right away I felt better than I did last time. There was no pain. I took it easy and slept mostly for the rest of the day.
Saturday I felt good, so we headed up to Apex for the weekend. My back was bothering me a bit so I took it easy. On Sunday we went cross country skiing and then played with the kids outside. It was a great day.
We are heading in this morning for some bloodwork and then fingers crossed we will get chemo today! We are meant to leave here on Wednesday and fly out of Vancouver on Thursday, so we don't have a lot of extra time.
Will and I both think I am slightly less yellow than I was, so we are taking that as a good sign.
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