Long day at Arrington

As I begin to write this, it sounds like a war zone outside our door. We are out of the city limits and one of our neighbors has been firing VERY LOUD rockets for a few hours. The dogs are a nervous wreck even though I have given them Benadryl. I can't wait until tomorrow.

We went to Arrington again today for John's weekly chemo treatment. The place was very crowded and checking in took much longer than usual. Apparently, Covenant has decided to start using a new computer system. It is being used company wide. There is one problem at Arrington. (Are you paying attention, Jackie?) The computer system is set up for the hospital and not for out patient care. I had seen the problems everyone was having on Monday, when we changed out John's infusion pump and port. But, we went straight back to see a particular person and did not have to check in. Today, it took over an hour to get the lab work done. Then it took until 3PM for us to get back to the treatment room to start the chemo. The staff were incredibly busy and frustrated trying to figure out how to document everything as required and to take care of the patients.

While waiting in the lobby, John got very cold. I found a couple of blankets to cover him with but, he was still very cold. One of the nurses came to tell us that John's values were very low and he may not be able to tolerate the treatment today. He was also running a fever. She went to talk to the doctor. His suggestion was, since this is the last in this series, he needed to go ahead.

I found a sandwich for John since we had no chance to eat between our appointments. Shortly after the treatment started, John started to shake. He was shaking and shivering all over. I brought him two more blankets. They didn't help. When I told the nurses about it, they brought microwave heated towels and heated blankets. The shivering never stopped.

John has been having a lot of pain in his head, shoulders and neck. Today it got much worse. The doctor ordered Darvocet but, it didn't arrive from the pharmacy until we were ready to leave around 5:20. One the way home, we stopped for more meds that were prescribed and finally arrived at home. John was in a lot of pain and very uncomfortable. I gave him his evening meds and he went to bed. He has been resting all evening. He is very confused and doesn't remember much. They are just slamming him with this poison. He will be using the infusion pump for one more week and then he gets a week off. I am hoping that he will have a decent break and start to feel better before he starts all over again.

Most of our support group is out of town this weekend. Honestly, I am a little nervous about that but, I can't expect people to be here all of the time. I appreciate all of you that are keeping us in your thoughts and prayers. This is a very difficult experience.