Today was my third IVIG infusion and the first time we were able to do it as an outpatient. It has been scheduled outpatient the other 2 times, but I always ended up back in the hospital with an infection. For the first time, I am actually on the outside world and was able to do it as scheduled! I have been out of the hospital for nearly one full month! It's amazing! They kept asking me how I deal with the infusions, but I was of little help since I have always just gone back to my hospital room and stared at the walls. So, this was a whole new experience. I do have a headache and I feel rather blah and tired, but it isn't so bad. I know other people who have the infusions as well and they also have problems with headaches after the infusion. It seems like it gets better the more hydrated you are, so I will just have to keep drinking and stay hydrated.
Otherwise, I am doing okay. My abdomen has been getting more and more sore this week, unfortunately. I did have a few really good days though, so I can definitely be thankful for that.
Mom's birthday was Tuesday and we had a nice family dinner. We continued on our trend of unusual desserts and had apple pie instead of cake. We have decided that it is silly to keep having cake for birthdays when none of us are all that crazy about cake as it is, so we are trying different things. We had a big cookie for Andrew's birthday. We did have a banana cake for my birthday, but that was my choice - I didn't get a banana cake last year and really wanted one this year. Anyway, we had a really nice dinner and mom was totally surprised by her gift - we got her Crocks (the clog shoes). I know this isn't really all that exciting a gift, but she was surprised by it and said she really liked them, which is all that matters! We just wanted to make her happy! She said she really enjoyed her birthday. We stopped by her office earlier in the day and brought her flowers and balloons. She loved the surprise and was overjoyed to see Andrew there - he brought her a little African violet and a balloon on a stick and said "Happy Birthday Grandma!" She loves it when he stops by the office and she can show him off to all her coworkers.
I went to the wound care clinic yesterday and they put a new dressing on my wound - it looks like a mesh screen like you have on a window. They are being really good about the fact that I can't afford all the fancy dressing supplies. This mesh thing is to stay on for 7 days and then I am going back next week and they said they would change it there if it is working. The hope is that it will be less adherent to the wound, especially the spot where the abdominal wall ruptured last month. They are hoping that area will grow kind of a callous over it so that we don't have to worry about the rupture causing anything to leak out of it. I really don't want any leakage because then I have to call the surgeon and have it repaired...something I don't have any interest in...more surgery. So, hopefully this mesh will work and I won't have to worry about it. The wound care clinic has been great about getting my COBRA paid for by the hospital as well. I took the next statement in today to the financial services department of the hospital. Apparently, they are planning to pay for the insurance for 3-4 months while I wait on the medicaid.
Speaking of medicaid, I got a call from the case worker on Tuesday. He left a message here saying that the hold up at this point is that he hasn't gotten the records from one of the hospitals and that he was surprised by that because they are usually really fast responding to the request for records. Of course, my thought was...if they usually respond faster, wouldn't it seem appropriate to call and find out if they got the request??? It's been 6 weeks for goodness sakes! So, I figure that I will give it until next week and then call him again to find out if he has gotten it yet so that I don't fall to the bottom of his pile again, which is what I suspect is what has happened this time. He said that once he has the records, it will be another 2-3 weeks while it goes to the committee to be reviewed. This is such a frustrating process because it is so slow and there seems to be nothing I can do to speed it up!!! I want to light a fire under somebody's butt and get this moving, but I don't know where to light that fire!
Anyway, I think that is about all that has happened here this week. I have nothing planned for tomorrow, so hopefully I can sleep in a little bit and then I would like to work on cleaning up downstairs a bit. I also need to get my bills and stuff all together so that I am prepared for my appointment with the lawyer on Monday regarding my bankruptcy. I have so many duplicate bills that I need to get that all sorted and figure out how much I actually owe and to whom so we can get that moving. I would like to stop the calls and letters from all the creditors. The good news is that the girl who answered the phone at the lawyers office said that it should be on the lower end of things with regards to cost because it is all medical bills - no unsecured debt like credit cards or the like. It's amazing how much it costs just to file bankruptcy! You have to be wealthy to declare you are poor!
Oh well, hope you all have a great day!!!
Sally
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