Bruce and his baggage

(Written Thursday morning... pre-bone marrow procedure)

On Wednesday we were sent home, and told not to return until 9am Thursday morning. At 10:00am on Thursday (today), the doctors will be performing a bone marrow aspirate (to “suck out” liquid bone marrow) on my Dad, which will allow them to determine if he has reached remission. The results from the bone marrow examination are expected within 1-4 days of the aspirate procedure.

Leaving the hospital with Bruce is no easy task. I strapped his IV med pump in its fashionable fanny pack across my chest (because wearing a fanny pack around your waist went out of style in the early 90’s… and even that’s pushing it), had a laundry bag full of supplies such as syringes, caps, alcohol swabs, heat packs and 2 large paper bags full of his IV and oral medications. I thought, “This is aggressive…all of this for 2 nights, 1 day?”

Prior to being released into the wild, Kelly and I were given a detailed lesson on how to purge my Dad’s PICC line with a saline filled syringe, attach his antibiotic medicine bag to the pump, hook it all up to him, and then purge the PICC line again. This must be done 3 times a day (now I think the docs are bumping him up to 4 times….eff). I suggested that I could go out, and just make sure I come home by 2am in order to hook him up to his antibiotics… my motions was denied!

Sitting in our dining room the first night home as a family, staring at our table covered with medical supplies and medications, I thought to myself, “Holy crap, how am I going to do this?” I felt overwhelmed and scared. With one diagnosis, our lives have changed forever. One day, I’m thinking about friends, boys, school, and gossip. Now I think, what are my dad’s vitals, when is his next dose of medicine, is he exercising, is he getting enough fluids... Yes, my life has changed.

After successfully administering the first round of IV meds, I went back down to my room, laid down in my bed and thought…”I CAN do this”.

The 1-day and 2 nights home was not only great for my Dad, but also for Kelly and I. We were able to do what we needed to do, but also act as caregivers to my father. Everyone wins! Kelly and I are looking forward to more home stays (especially the 'off' week), and I hope my Dad is too.