I am writing this on the seventeenth but dating it the sixteenth as that would be my usual posting day but circumstances precluded me from being able to post on the right day.
We were able to get our covid vaccinations last Wednesday due to Tom’s health concerns and after arriving and, after our asking if I too could receive it as his caregiver, I was given permission. Tom had also received his someta infusion that day when Doctor Vrabec gave the okay for both to be done on the same day. However, two or three hours after his vaccination he got the chills and shakes which lasted about a half hour.
From that Wednesday on the pain in his upper right leg moved to his left leg accompanied by swelling in the groin area. This pain was even worse than the right leg had been and the painkillers were not seeming to be as helpful. Finally on the Monday the fifteenth Tom put a call into Doctor Collingridge and he he got back to us on the morning of the sixteenth and told us to go to emergency to get a blood test and ultrasound to rule out a blood clot. The sixteenth is my birthday just to make things more interesting. We went to the Abbotsford emergency checking in at about 11:00am. I was not permitted to stay after that and retired to the car. Tom had the only cell phone we have right now and so could not communicate with me. When I attempted to get in to see how he was doing knowing he would need painkillers and that he also had no food, I was abruptly stopped at the entrance by a vigilant guard telling me I needed to phone. I had no phone. Finally a kind nurse noticed me and asked if I needed help and she agreed to go in search of Tom. She came back with the phone and news of regarding Tom. I was now able to phone Cindy who had been in communication with her father. At one point I looked up and there was Cindy at the car door holding a teen burger for me that Tom had instructed her to bring me. She was a ray of sunshine on a difficult day. She stayed and visited with me for a good while. I was now able to phone into the hospital and get updates on Tom. Finally at about five o’clock he was released from the emergency. No blood clot but an appointment for CT scan tomorrow. What an exhausting and worrisome experience for both of us. We do not like being separated.
We returned home to find flowers from our children and Mary Harvey and birthday messages on phone and on online. We were both exhausted but Tom went out to pick up his new pain medications and some dinner from our Italian restaurant while I got things organized and contacted people to thank them. Our other children all FaceTimed or called plus messaging and Cindy and family came over with cakes and good wishes that we shared out in the backyard. They still cannot come into our home due to covid restrictions. They all blessed our difficult day.
On the bright side Tom had the xtandi hormone we have been waiting for delivered on Monday and we are hopeful that it will be a benefit to him and maybe even help with this pain. It is extremely expensive and he has to take 4 pills each night before bed. We are grateful for the government assistance with one because he will be taking $1,500 worth a day. Our friend David Walton is on the same treatment in Utah.
We did not take Carol the sacrament on Sunday because of Tom’s pain but we did meet with her via zoom on Thursday. I have worked on the flower beds this week and we had our Sunday zoom meetings and our family zoom meeting. We stay in touch with our other ministering people by phone and email. We continue to receive cards and messages of concern and love and others call on the phone. We are very blessed.
Each week is interesting but we are grateful for each other, the gospel and our friends and family.
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