Hospital Visit Instead of a Treatment

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”
Matthew 11: 28-30


I don't even know where to start!  The last couple of days have not been easy and I am thankful to be back home!  The bottom line is that I had an infection, was admitted to the hospital Tuesday (14th) for initial treatment of the infection, got to come home Wednesday (15th).  I did not have a chemo treatment because of this infection.  I will not have a treatment next Tuesday (21st) either because I will still be on an antibiotic. However I will still have an appointment with my oncologist next Tuesday!
During this time there were an abundance of answered prayers, many wonderful stories, and many blessings!!  If you want to know about the details of my stay, or about those wonderful stories and answered prayers...keep reading.  I have a lot to tell about!!   :)

The week since my last treatment:
My last treatment was on Tuesday, January 7th.  Since my white cell count was low that day I had to give myself a shot a day for the 5 days following the treatment.  All of that went fine and I actually felt pretty good on those days!  Sunday, January 12th was my last shot.  All was going good.  Monday morning I noticed my left breast (where the cancer is) had a little pinkness to it and I thought maybe I had just put pressure on it while sleeping or something.  That day, I was really more concerned about my dog who had been scratched in the eye by a cat and had to have surgery and stitches. (This happened in our own fenced in back yard. We don't have a cat. Not a fan of cats. Especially now!)  Anyway, by the evening, there was even more pinkness.  While trying to sleep that night it became very sore and sensitive to even my shirt brushing against it.  I had an appointment with my oncologist on Tuesday, Janueary 14th (the next morning) so I knew I could talk to her about it.  I was concerned because of how fast things changed.  My doctor thought it was an infection but couldn't know for sure until I had some antibiotic to see if these symptoms changed.  The unnerving part was wondering what it meant if the symptoms did not change with antibiotic.  My doctor wasn't able to give me a concrete answer about that concern.  (I never thought I would pray to have an infection, but that is what I started doing.)  Then she explained further that the antibiotic needed to be given through IV to go directly into my system so we could find out results quicker.  This meant being admitted to the hospital at Barnes-Jewish Cancer Center.

The medical details of my stay at the hospital:
They started my first dose of antibiotic at around 1:30 in the afternoon. (I thought it was going to be continuous through the IV but it wasn't).  It was going to take over an hour for the dosage to go through the IV so Mike left to get me some things I might need for the night.  The look on his face when he returned about an hour later was priceless.  I had had an allergic reaction to the antibiotic and I guess my face was RED...more than sunburnt red...like dark red paint red!  The nurse happened to come in not long after and said it is a common allergic reaction called "Red Man Syndrome"...go figure.  She stopped the IV and the redness went away within 30 minutes.  Sorry, don't have any pics!  Because of the reaction, it was debated on whether to continue doses every 12 hours or every 24 hours, but I would still get the same antibiotic.  As of 6 o'clock that night the decision was 24 hours which would have meant a longer stay in the hospital.  But by 7:30 that night the decision was back to 12 hours so my next dosage would start around 1:30 in the morning.  They made it so the antibiotic would be given slower and also with a saline solution (I think?) to dilute it a little in hopes of no other reaction, but, I still had a slight reaction with redness to my forehead.  Benedryl to the rescue.

I could save myself a lot of the roller coaster of emotions if I would just learn to not decide how I think things are going to go.  I had just determined in my mind that after 2 doses of a strong antibiotic through an IV meant I was going to see some major changes by the next day.  False. Wrong.  The doctor never said that! So why did I think it?  Because my oncologist said that antibiotic through the IV would give quicker results...translation by Karen Neal :  a couple of doses through the IV and this infection should be almost gone.   Oh my goodness I am my own worst enemy sometimes!!

By the next morning there was only slight improvement in the soreness and I really wasn't sure about changes in the pinkness even though the doctor had outlined it on my skin with an ink pen to be able to monitor any changes.  The doctor checked on me around 10 that morning and when she looked at everything, she saw progress!  Thank goodness!!   I had a great doctor there and she was SO patient with me because that is when I started asking more detailed questions (with tears flowing) and tried not to translate her answers into Karen Neal's language!!  I had questions about how soon I could expect to see more visible progress, how long before the pinkness would go away, why didn't we see drastic changes, how many more doses of antibiotic did they plan to give me, etc...so many questions!  I was just planning on getting my next dose around 1:30 that afternoon but at around noon the nurse told me I was going to get a pill form of an antibiotic soon and that I was going home later that day!!!  Woohoo!!  That was a great moment!  Every 6 hours I now take a pill form of an antibiotic for the next week.  I knew being in the hospital was what was needed but I do not like being away from my family and friends!  I was released around 3pm and home by about 5:30.

My roommate at the hospital:
I will never really be able to describe her accurately enough but she was a sweet women!  She was 44 and in the hospital because she got sick after her 1st chemo treatment.  She had been in the hospital since early Saturday morning around 1am.  Those are details that I think are important to know with other things I want to say about her.  She was very open about her situation so she would tell you more than that if you would meet her!!  I really believe that God orchestrates things and this is such an example!   The roommate she had previously was moved to a different room the morning I was admitted.  She and I think that that is because we were supposed to meet each other!  My thoughts go further than that.  I think that I was supposed to be her roommate so that she could be a part of the time I had with my visitors and my family.  I had two friends come see me Tuesday night and not only did they show me love, encouragement, and support but they showed my roommate the same.  As if they had been friends for years!  Wednesday morning my pastor and a deacon friend came to see me to also offer encouragement, scripture, and prayer.  My roommate was a part of some of the conversation with them and my pastor got a bit of time to speak with her!  This is God's work so perfectly orchestrated!  Later Wednesday I had two more friends come visit and offer encouragement and support for me and they also showed great love for my roommate.  They had brought with them a book of encouraging scripture along with a Chris Tomlin CD.  My friends were going to give those gifts to me but it did not take long into the visit for all of us to know that my roommate was the one who should get these gifts.
While we are both believers in Jesus Christ, my roommate and I live very different lives.  She is a believer who has moved away from her 'home' church and has not found a new church to go to.  She does not have near the support system that I have been so blessed with.  My stay at the hospital was approximately 28 hours.  During this time I had 6 visitors (with more scheduled if I would have stayed longer) and my husband there with me.  I also had FaceTime with both of my girls (which my roommate was a part of also!), so many text messages, and several phone calls.  During those 28 hours she did not have a single visitor of her own.  I know that she had a couple of visitors previously (the pastor from that 'home' church of hers drove 3 hours to see her!!) and I know that it doesn't mean anything against her family.  She has 2 grandbabies living in her home that her family needed to take care of and she did not want them around any sickness at a hospital.  I still just felt a little sad for her.  I had told friends that a visit was not necessary but now I see just how important they were....for me and for my roommate!


I am sorry to not post earlier with details and information.  I really did not have enough information and probably wouldn't have accurately given the information that I did have.

Thank you once again my Army of Prayer Warriors!!  Please continue the prayers and remember my roommate if you will!  Even though I didn't give her name, God will know who you are praying for!!

God is SO Good!!  All the Time!!