"Mr Hose" is in!

The last 3 days have given us a great introduction into what our life will be like for the next while, as we were lucky enough to spend the recovery time of Max’s Hickman line surgery in the same isolation room we will occupy for the transplant process. Thanks for all the name suggestions (Sue – “Alfred” would have been very cute!), however the name “Mr Hose” emerged as the winner! When we woke Max up on Friday morning his first words were “We go see Mr Hose now?”!!!

So we arrived at the hospital at 7am on Friday, completed consent forms, got Max gowned up and waited for his name to be called. Prior to the surgery he was given some ‘happy’ medicine which made him super relaxed…hilarious to see. Will try to upload some footage soon.... 

I was able to go into theatre with him whilst they put him to sleep with strawberry flavoured gas! Once asleep they gave him a platelet transfusion then performed the surgery. All up this took around one hour. Tim and I met with him in recovery and when awake he devoured an icey-pole with 4 bites! He seemed to be ok.

On the way up to the ward however, Max began to get quite agitated. He did not co-operate with the nurses by lying on his trolley, instead he fought his way out of the bed and into my arms. He just wanted to be held. In the process he was tugging at his newly inserted line which consequently started bleeding. Blood was everywhere…on him…on me. It was an awful experience. He was obviously in pain and the sight of blood dripping off him didn’t make it any better. Once we got to his room another platelet transfusion was ordered and given through his new line, and after smashing a ham and cheese sandwich he fell asleep for around 4 hours.

Once awake, he was back to his cheeky old self – flirting with the nurses and demanding undivided attention of us.

I stayed with Max overnight on Friday night. It was a difficult night as he didn’t quite understand that he couldn’t roll around like a mad-man as he would get tangled up in his lines (he was connected to a saline drip). But overall Max was great, the nurses expected that he would require 4 hourly pain relief – but our Max ‘der Starke’ (the strong one) hardly complained at all. I did order Max one dose of Panadol in the evening as he complained a little after I had changed his pants. Only after I ordered it did I realize the reason he complained was because I had got ‘Mr Hose’ tangled up between his legs. Consequently he was a tad uncomfortable - not in pain (Silly Mummy!) He slept well until 4.30am when he woke up crying. But once settled he demanded “Dora the Explorer”. So from around 5am until Tim came back to the hospital at 11am, it was Dora jigsaw puzzles and Dora on TV. To say I was completely sick of Dora is an understatement!...but whatever makes Max happy, we will do it.

On Saturday, Max was unhooked from his drip and was allowed to roam free. By the evening I was exhausted so Tim stayed overnight Saturday with Max so I could get a good sleep (Thanks my spunky!). I returned Sunday morning, and after a number of blood tests revealed that Max’s platelet count was holding, we were allowed to come home! We were sent home with two drugs that Max is required to take twice daily – a general antibiotic to keep him healthy, and an anti-seizure medication (as the chemo is likely to give him seizures). We are back to the hospital again on Tuesday for another platelet check and the dressing on his chest wound changed. Then one more day until admission on Thursday.

 

Check out my handy work on Max’s singlets (“Mr Hose’s” House), satin lined and all!