Color me grateful!

The plan is working...kinda. In a previous post, I mentioned that the oncology team and I had worked out a plan to keep me out of the ER. So, here's an update on that plan. Bottom line? I haven't had to go to the ER. 

I had a blood draw on Friday last week. It showed my platelets were going down but not low enough for a transfusion. So, I had another blood draw on Monday this week, which showed platelets below the transfusion threshold. I had an appointment on the books at the Sunset clinic in Hillsboro, a good hour and a half from home. As I was leaving the clinic in Salem, after my blood draw, I got a call from the oncology office. They told me that there was a mix-up.

Oh, no, I thought, for by this time I was beginning to have some signs of bleeding problems. To my great relief, the mix-up turned out to be that platelets had been ordered and delivered to the Skyline Office, in Salem, not the Sunset Office. That being the case, I was directed to go to the Skyline office, some 25 minutes from home, for a transfusion. 

So, I had a platelet transfusion on Monday afternoon. Ever the optimist, I thought, "Good to go!!" Apparently, my body was not on board with that plan. Yesterday, throughout the day, I developed more and more evidence of bleeding disorder. My next blood draw was scheduled for Thursday this week, as in tomorrow. Fearing that I would be too far gone by then to get a transfusion before the weekend and before a really serious bleed, I emailed some photos of my facial lesions (similar to the ones I mentioned here only worse) to the oncology office. 

This morning, I got a call from oncology saying that if I could get a blood draw this morning before 11:30AM, I could get a transfusion this afternoon. 

Jill and I jumped in the Ford and hit the road. Along the way, I discovered that oncology had scheduled an 11:30 appointment for me at the nurse treatment room. We arrived at the North Lancaster Office before 9:00 with the intention of going to the lab and having a phlebotomist do a draw with a needle. As we passed by the nurse treatment room on the way to the lab, Jill noticed the door was open and went in to ask if, by any chance, they could see me. To my surprise and delight, they ushered us right into a treatment room and did a blood draw!! 

If anyone ever has anything negative to say about Kaiser Permanente's nursing staff, be prepared. They'll have to answer to me first. I have been treated like royalty by the nurses in every KP office I have ever been in...and I've been in quite a few in the last four or five months.

So, now I am scheduled for another transfusion this afternoon. The plan is working, but it seems to be rather fluid, and that suits me just fine. What I am seeing is that the staff is treating me like a human being and adjusting to my needs, instead of being slaves to schedules and protocols. 

Color me grateful.