Turning the Corner

Good morning! I got good sleep again last night and I feel like I might be starting to turn the corner. My nurse said she saw "discharge planning" in my chart, which I figured was coming as they told me about doing PFT's on Monday. Depending on where those are at, as long as my liver continues to behave, and they hydroxixine helps me tolerate the Zosyn, I should be able to finish out the antibiotics at home. I'm guessing I'll probably be on it for a couple more weeks just to make sure we really kick this infection so it doesn't come right back. Last night, a fellow PCD pal, Kathy, got admitted. We went on an adventure to starbucks together and the nurses were sweet and said, "Everyone needs a pole buddy!" I've never been in a clinic so it's sweet to have a friend here, even if we are both in the "slammer" as me and my PCD peeps call the hospital. We haven't gotten to chat in a long time so it was good to catch up this morning. I reached out to my "resident PCD expert" friend, Renee, and asked what protocol we should follow as we both have multi-drug resistant bugs and don't want to cross-contaminate each other so we have to wear masks, stay 6 feet away from each other and don't go in each other's rooms. It's hard because we both want to wrap each other up in a big hug, but it's for the best because we don't want to make each other more sick. We may have cheated a tiny bit to take some selfie's together but (not touching just closer than 6 feet) but that's where trust in my Sovereign King comes in. I want to be a wise steward but I also don't want to be so fearful of bugs that I forget to live. It's definitely a balance! Be praying for Kathy as her PFT's are in the 40's and she's still sick after 3 weeks of IV's at home so she's going to have to have a bronchoscopy early next week. I'm thankful we are here together so I can encourage her. Also, I forgot to add another prayer request from yesterday last night...I was really tired by the time I finally did my blog post. Pamela Ward cleaned my room yesterday and saw the quilt my Great Grandma Duncan made for me when I was like 8 on my bed and asked where she got the fabric. I told her I thorugh it was fabrics she had as it's a patchwork quilt and that she's been gone for many years (she died on St. Patrick's Day in 1997). Pamela needs a sewing machine so she asked for prayer that God would provide for a sewing machine and fabric so she can make a quilt like Great Grandma's. There was also an ER admit early this morning...I can't share much as it's private information but pray for a young lady who is 34 with metastatic cancer and not doing well. My nurse, Denise, (that's my Momma's name too!) has been a nurse for over 40 years and is super sweet. We were talking as she drew my labs at 3:45 this morning that it had been a good night but she said, "I can't say cause it will jinx us." She said, "We never said the "Q" word (quiet) in the ER cause if we did 5 ambulances would show up." I told her of a time my RT, Naomi, in Tucson had the trauma pager and I asked how it was going and then she came back a few minutes later and said, "Right after I left your room it went off!" I told Denise as she was leaving that there is no such thing as "jinxing" but rather it's God's sovereign deliveries and He knew this girl needed her as her nurse....she's a Christian and has a heart to help which makes her an incredible nurse. God continues to answer so many of your prayers for my comfort and care by surrounding me with incredible people that encourage my heart and just make me smile at my God's amazingly perfect plan for my life. Yes, it's still hard. I'm in pain 24/7 even on tylenol, especially my joints, (which I'm still waiting to talk to the Rheumatology consult to find out what the x-rays of my joints showed.) and then I'm coughing so much my entire chest just hurts. I used some lidocaine patches for the first time when I was admitted but I really try to give my body as few things to process as possible. I was going over my lab results in the patient portal and my TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) is high at 7.999 which is indicative of hypothyrodism. I emailed my reproductive endocrinologist NP who specializes in female hormones who I saw right before I was admitted to try to figure out hormones and what's going on with hotflashes and how we can help my body through the pari-menopause etc. I can't do estradiol, and honestly wouldn't want to anyway, so this is probably the next area of my health I'll have to focus on when I get discharged...along with getting back to an ophthamologist to see if they can help with all my issues related to the vestibular injury and to check up on my amblyopia which I'm supposed to wear glasses for but I haven't been to the eye doc since 2010....been too busy putting out other "body fires". This is getting longer than anticipated, but I'm able to actually type on my computer so I can do a bit longer of an update. Im super excited that Jord is coming down today--will be sweet to see him. In the Love of the Lamb, Rachelle