A Tale of Two Hospitals

Monday - June 18, 2012

Good news:  Joe and I made it by 8 a.m. to Dalton Clinic and my labs were done my 8:35.  Typical news:  Lab results took more than 2 hours to turn over.  Best news:  Platelets and neutrophils were still manageable and we were able to LEAVE without any treatments!  Hurrah!

How could a fall on this Trikke cause such a wound?

But today, Ammirati lymphoma takes a back seat to Alzamora "avulsion." Joe and I were home by 11:30 only to find out from a waiting Carter that Daniel had suffered a hand-sized avulsion (major skin flap laceration) to his outer right calf while riding Joe's "trike" around our neighborhood.  He had been transported by our military base ambulance to our local Emergency Room and Carolyn had followed behind in the car.  Yikes!  13-year-old Carter was very calm waiting at home (after cleaning up the blood) and she and I jumped in my car to the Sentara Emergency Room.  Daniel has been extremely brave - it is QUITE an injury.  He is now stitched up with uncounted number of internal stitches and 27 external stitches  - as well as derma glue on a secondary laceration on his inner left thigh.  What a fall!  The Alzamora trio remains at the hospital awaiting a compression wrap and will then hopefully enjoy a well-deserved ice cream outing.

I have retreated home to eat, write, and now to try to eek out some sleep.  The steroids continue to wreak havoc with my sleep - only 4 hours last night.  I must be exhausted but can't pull the trigger on some downtime.  What a difference a week makes!  My heart rate is better regulated today and my physical stamina is returning to the extent that I am not plotting how and when to move from one place to another.  At Sentara, I hand sanitized like crazy, remained isolated from any other patients, and tried NOT to touch anything.  My darling neutrophils may not be at the danger level YET but an emergency room is not a destination spot for my sketchy immune system.  Carolyn and I were ultra cautious.