On Friday when we talked about Nick going home I reminded him that his cousin worked at the hospital. I contacted her and sure enough she was working that weekend. I think this helped ease his mind on leaving me "alone" (because there weren't nurses visiting me constantly). His cousin ended up visiting me after the doctors left Saturday morning. Her family is dealing with a struggle of their own, her sister was diagnosed with breast cancer and things have exactly gone as well as we would hope. If you say prayers, please say one for Katie- I know she can use all the support she can get.
I had a nice chat with Nick's cousin and waited for Nick to arrive. Nick got to the hospital around 1 p.m. and we chatted for a while. His birthday was the next day and I felt awful that my spring break trip was going to ruin it. Remember how I thought I would just be in the hospital overnight and be home Friday? Yeah, that wasn't happening. But I still hoped that my numbers would shoot up and I could go home on Sunday. Then the entire family could be together to celebrate. Neve was still sick- so we didn't want her at the hospital, otherwise we would have considered bring them to Iowa City for the day/night. But I didn't want them to see me hooked up to all the machines and get worried (although Ellie asked a lot of questions and was really interested in what was going on- such a smart kid and they did see me via FaceTime). Things went well on Saturday during the day. The doctor had ordered a CT scan that morning so we were waiting for that to happen. We learned that when you are an inpatient that usually means your CT scan occurs in the middle of the night- not like you have anywhere else to go. Nick and I broke out of the neuro wing and walked around part of the hospital (with my IV in tow) for a while. I had a pretty relaxed nurse and as long as I had someone with me I could move around freely.
It was about time for Nick to head to my brother's house for the night when I started getting sharp stabbing pains in a specific point in the left side of my head. Painful enough that I started crying and like nothing that I had felt during this whole ordeal. We alerted the nurse who contacted the doctor. The pains started to get better and I convinced Nick to head out (he hadn't eaten since the morning and my brother's house was just a few minutes away if he needed to come back). They moved up my CT and I headed down for that. Around 12:30 a.m. (seriously, I was up at all hours during this process) the doctor came in to tell me that everything looked fine. He also made a comment about me knowing where the blood clot was located. Interesting. I was relieved that nothing was worse.
Nick was back at the hospital really early (for him) on his birthday (Sunday). I cannot remember, but he may have made it in before the first round of doctor visits. My INR was still 1.0, which was a little disappointing. But everything else was going well. Later on the large group of doctors came to visit and the doctor discussed the possibility of us giving shots at home to get the INR up to the therapeutic level of 2.0-3.0, without having to stay in the hospital until that point. We had to be very serious about it and make sure we administered the shot at the certain time, and went to all follow-up appointments needed. I quickly volunteered Nick to give me shots (I didn't think I had the stomach to do it myself) and the doctor obviously didn't know me if he was questioning my ability to follow a schedule and do what I am told. It would require some coordinating with the doctors in Des Moines to make sure they were willing to take over at the current point, but we found out that I might get released Monday or Tuesday! I was thrilled that I would be able to go home before Neve's birthday that Friday. The doctor also informed me that I would not be able to go back to work until the following Monday and was on a weight restriction of 10 lbs. until then.
After that wonderful news Nick headed home to spend the rest of his birthday day with the girls. My parents arrived before he left and kept me company for the day. While my parents were there a gentleman from the local Catholic Church came and offered us communion. I realize I am very lucky with how things worked out. I truly believe that God was watching over me. I felt like this was just another way of him saying, yup- I am here with you.
To be continued...
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