Above and Beyond

In the last blog, I think I worried everyone too much. Sorry. Yes, this is hard, but we are getting through it. We have as many gifts along the way as we have difficulties.

Our trip up the hill was a nightmare, but, wow, was it the right place to go. This last week Marc had to go every day to have blood drawn at Legacy hospital. On Wed. they drew extra at chemo so he didn't have two trips that day. Anyway, Sara from the anticoag clinic has been monitoring his information and talked to Marc on the phone on Thursday about a new plan for his meds.

Thursday was not the best day for Marc to process information as he was in the midst of chemo #4. I asked if he would be offended if I contacted Sara to get the information directly from her because I didn't understand what he was supposed to do.

Friday morning I emailed Sara requesting that she go over the plan with me. She emailed back asking me to call her before noon. Fortunately, my kids have a morning recess this year so I was able to try to reach her. We played a bit of phone tag, but about 11:40 we were able to talk. She was waiting for Marc's info to come from Legacy and hadn't gotten it yet. It would determine his weekend meds.

I called home and he hadn't left for the hospital yet. By the time he reached the hospital and had his blood drawn, Sara had already left OHSU for the day. When we talked, she gave me the plan for his meds in case she was unable to get his numbers before leaving home. The plan included going back onto the Lovenox shots through the weekend to get his number up. I guess up is a good thing. In this experience, sometimes you want numbers up and sometimes you want them down. Marc hates the Lovenox more than anything and I knew this would not be good news for him.

I went to Fred Meyer to pick up the new Lovenox prescription yesterday evening. While there, Sara called my cell phone. She had checked his latest numbers from home. His numbers were coming up. The new plan for Marc's meds only has him do the Lovenox through tonight. Three shots rather than five. Sara may not be warm and fuzzy or have the tenderest "bedside manner," but she is a gift. Her willingness to go above and beyond made a tough week end on a good note.

Marc's chemo this time initially hit him pretty hard. He has had times he feels well enough to mix up the cookie dough for cookies he was craving and times where he just doesn't have energy to do more than crash on the couch. His friend Georgia from martial arts has been another gift this week. She took him to OHSU for chemo and then took him to Legacy two days for blood draws. He is truly blessed to have friends like Georgia.

One other good note. We have fabulous insurance. When I picked up the Lovenox, it was $20 rather than the normal $10 we pay for prescriptions. When I questioned the guy, he said it was a name brand drug rather than generic. If we didn't have insurance the 10 syringes would have cost $911.11. I gave him the $20 and did just what my dad would have wanted me to do - I smiled and said thank you.