Monday and Tuesday

Monday Rachel had just a few appointments. One was with the social worker. She gave us a tour of the bone marrow transplant unit as well as information regarding parking, and general information about staying there. There is a washer/dryer unit on the floor and a shower, and a kitchen all of which are shared by the caregivers. I can get a parking pass for the month which will be a big help. At the moment I am paying anywhere from 7-10 dollars a day. The second appointment was with Cardiology. It was pretty short and we were done with the day by 12:30. So we decided to go back to the condo and then head out to Walnut Grove ,Minnesota...one of the places Laura Ingalls Wilder lived. They have a museum there and the have land markers of where their dugout house was and Plum creek is still there. Rachel and I are fans of the TV show and books so we enjoyed this little trip.

Tuesday was another story. Rachel had a pulmonary function test then a neurology appointment. We also knew they had scheduled a lumbar puncture....spinal tap, which I was a little concerned about, but that took a back seat when we got there and found out they had scheduled a bone marrow biopsy. Rachel is a trooper and when it took 3 tries to get an IV started she never moaned or winced....much braver than me. So when she was in pain during the bone marrow biopsy I knew she was in pain. They had to try a second time because they couldn't get enough out the first time in the spot they were in. They did give her some meds to try and help with the pain, but it seems to me they should have done this procedure with her more sedated. The spinal tap didn't go easy either as they had to do that twice as well, but it was still easier than the bone marrow procedure. So by the time we got home Rachel was tired and nauseated. She slept for a while and then got up, still felt bad and slept some more and then went to bed. This morning (Wed) she isn't as nauseated, but has a really bad headache. Probably from the spinal tap. She is laying in a room at the clinic at the moment 12:30pm waiting for our last appointment of the day which is the exit conference where we will hear the results of all the tests and if everything turned out fine Rachel will sign all of the consent forms.