Thank you everyone for all the good thoughts and encouragement. I wish I could thank you all individually, but I'd probably miss at least one person, and I am so exhausted right now.
nmscienceteacher, Thank you for the very good advice. I teach world history -- it overlaps a lot with science, because of all the archeology and scientific advances and discoveries.
I am so glad to be home, but the exhaustion has definitely kicked in. In the hospital, there was a whole staff tending to our every need, and I was only navigating the distance from bed to chair to bathroom (except for PT walks, etc.). Now that I'm home, I'm covering a lot more distance just to go to the bathroom, and the fatigue has hit big-time. Ups and downs throughout the day, and still so grateful to have had this life-transforming opportunity. My husband has done so much to prepare for my return home, and worked so hard to get everything perfect, all the shopping done, sheets on the bed turned down. It just moved me to tears. He is helping me with everything, but I don't want to run him ragged or wear him out. He's only one person, not a whole hospital staff, and he has some physical challenges of his own. He would work his heart out for me, as I would for him, but I don't want to do that to him.
For those who have been writing about Lovenox -- here's a little Lovenox story I'll share. Won't make it more pleasant to use it, and have to give yourselves shots in the belly, but it may add a little perspective:
After my husband recovered from Stage 4 cancer, he got a deep-vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism, went on Coumadin (which failed), and got a second DVT a year later. Our only option was for him to use Lovenox every day -- for the rest of his life, as we saw it at that time -- and the insurance I had through my school wouldn't pay for the Lovenox, despite long letters and appeals from all his doctors -- heart, oncology, everything. All the appeals failed, even though it looked as though he would die without the Lovenox, and there was no way we could pay more than $1,000/month to buy it at full price. We were in a state of desperation and disbelief. I was thinking, "What do I have to do next? Sell a kidney to get money for the Lovenox?" Of course that is crazy thinking, but that is the way you get when faced with an impossible situation. What saved us was the Veterans' Administration (VA). My husband is a Navy veteran and has gotten many of his meds from them over the years. They approved the Lovenox, and he gave himself a daily shot for more than three years. He was covered with black and blue marks from all those shots, but he never once complained. He is just so glad to be alive, and so in love with life. He said it was no different from people with diabetes having to take insulin. Now he is on Xarelto -- the drug I'll be taking for the next 10 days -- and no longer has to use the Lovenox, but he was totally ready to use it for the rest of his life. Thank God we have drugs like Lovenox. Nobody would want to get DVT. It is more awful than you can imagine, even if you are lucky enough to survive it. We have many challenges getting our energy and stamina back after THR, but the journey is so much harder and longer coming back from a DVT. He could barely sit up on his own after each DVT, for the longest time, or walk across the room, but he has always fought his way back, with such courage and discipline. My amazing hero and best friend, my lover and husband and role model.
United States
So glad you're going to be home, in your own comfy environment. Thanks for the tip on the undies, I'll be sure to get a few colorful pairs of boxers for myself.... maybe that will start a new trend! lol
