No Place Like Home

It's been a long time since I last posted on my little blog. A lot of unfortunate things have happened and a lot of fun things has happened.

I was admitted to the hospital 16 days ago for uncontrollable throwing up and another detail I'll spare you guys. It was supposed to be just an over night stay. And it ended up being a 16 day long roller coaster ride that seemed to have no end.

But I've learned which nurses I absolutely love and ones that I will forever request to stay the heck away from me.

I had an Oncologist for the first week who as wonderful and very cheery. He was LDS and we really liked him. But he couldn't figure out what was wrong with my sodium levels. ((This was the main reason why I was admitted to the hospital. My Sodium levels were extremely low and I was in danger of seizures or brain damage.)) I complained about my stomach hurting, but he said that was from constantly throwing up. He said I possibly could have SIADH which is a hormone that the brain regulates. He tried with all his might to keep things under control. Which he managed to do... through dehydration and not being able to eat food. That was torture.

The second Oncologist was from the Dominican Republican and was very quiet. When I told him about my stomach problems and another thing ((I'll save the details)) he ordered a CT scan and about four o'clock in the morning that nurses came in with pamphlets and yellow gowns. I had an infection and people now had to wear gowns and gloves when they entered the room. It wasn't because they were going to infect me or I was going to infect them. It was for other cancer patients. I was in isolation. This doctor helped my sodium levels and helped figured out what was wrong with me. But he was the one that made me have up and downs. I wanted to go home, and he wouldn't let me. I was frustrated and sad. Until they moved me from the smallest room to the biggest room. That helped my spirits.

And then I got my primary Oncologist. I begged him to send me home, I was doing well and was happy. Everything was good. But he had returned from a conference and learned that if a cancer patient was right on schedule for their second chemotherapy, and if their tumors decrease a certain percentage... I wouldn't have to do Radiation.

So we waited a day and then I started Chemo.

Now through his whole ordeal I have never been text book cancer patient. I mean... obviously my life wasn't fun enough that I had to be normal patient. But nooo I had to be the head scratcher.

Usually cancer patients going through Chemotherapy have a really hard time eating and have a terrible time with nausea. But this time around, I probably had only about a few moments where I felt nausea but I had an appetite. I was eating during this whole thing. Which is... bizarre. So I have a feeling this round of chemotherapy is going to be nice. And hopefully they'll continue to be nice. And not be a pain in the butt like they have been.

So even if you seem down and everything isn't going the way it's planned. Know it's going to make you a stronger person even if you don't know it at the time. You might not be able to see it, but others will.

Annika Severts.