Get in Line, Settle Down

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wit703Ya_Vo

This song is a full representation of that day in the hospital!....PART 3:After my Mom picked up my sister, she came back in about an hour, I sat there in a weird limbo. Little did I know this would be the ultimate limbo of the ultimate game changer. My nurse came in a couple times just to check on me, and inform me I would soon be on my way to the MRI. During that hour I sat there in a daze, and just know that daze stayed with me for the next 72 hours, truthfully probably the next month. Next stop MRI town, which I had never experienced before. I get up and they tell me to sit down in the wheel chair, being my Granny's granddaughter I scoffed saying I don't need that wheelchair, it's my arms I can't feel my legs work perfectly fine! Ma'am you must sit in the wheel chair to be transported anywhere in the hospital. Whatever! I found myself relating in a new way to any miserable old lady bossing people around, and I quickly let go of my stubbornness. I get wheeled in and they inform me it will be a little bit of a wait, but Wendy Williams Show was on and I revert to some sort of familiarity, "How you Doin?" Once it was my turn they give me directions and tell me to not move. It took about 25 minutes and then i was brought back out to the dreaded wheelchair.  The nurses come out to tell me my transporter will be here shortly. It's funny how you run into people from your past, in times when you least expect it. Out comes Kat, who I had known from days long ago, my wild days. It was comforting, which was especially nice in in this extravaganza of unknown. By the time I returned to the E.R. room I was explaining for the billionth  time to the billionth Dr. why I was there, what hurt, etc. Which can become extremely annoying when you have to repeat yourself so much! It was all different kinds of Dr.s too, not like I know all the medical fields to explain further, but I mean a lot. Each one's asking me to perform different actions with my "dead arms" and other such limbs. My Mother and I just sit there, awaiting some sort of answer and the next Dr to come in is the one who will be giving us those answers. My nurse says that this Dr. Arrigo is known among other things is known for his bedside manner and he will be more than happy to answer any and every question we have. I'm thinking, " I didn't know a pinched nerve was so complex." I can here a scuffle down the hall and in comes my two Aunts, Chrissy and Cindy. Who are quickly followed by my crazy Uncle Pat, and my even crazier cousin Timmy. (P.S. you are only allowed 2 visitors at a time) My uncle Pat starts telling dirty jokes, that's how we handle things on my Dad's side, with inappropriate laughter. He is interrupted by the first Dr. to give us some answers, Dr. Arrigo. He sits down and starts calmly talking about things like radiation, lymph nodes, and immediate surgery to remove a node. My Mom interrupts him like what are you trying to say, what does all this mean? For the first time since 10:30 AM we got an answer, one we weren't expecting. Dr. Arrigo says," Lymphoma, (we all sit there with mouths open waiting for a more detailed explanation)... as in Cancer." As I sit there in a blur he goes on about how they can't be sure until after surgery, which will take place in an hour. All this life changing news is interrupted by my Aunt Cindy screeching," It's not a pinched nerve?" Followed by my Aunt Chrissy yelling through gritting teeth," No Cindy! Sit down and shut up!" Aaaaaa my family is classic. Before I can blink my eyes in walks the surgeon, Dr. Moore, who looked like Bradley Cooper. Hey Bradley! Giving us the run down for the surgery, I don't think any of us heard it, the word Cancer was still lingering in every one's brain. before I knew it I was being shuffled to the O.R., and giving instructions about anesthetics, and how they were gonna slice and dice my neck to pull out one of the lumps that most likely is Cancerous. I mean before I had my son I had never broken sprained or had a stitch my whole life, and now I'm being wheeled into surgery!When I wake up, I remember crying, just crying and crying, I couldn't feel my arms at all. I remember the nurse telling me there was a zillion people in the waiting room, and she said they could come in 2 at a time, who did I want to see? Apparently my Mom and Aunt Chrissy came first, I have no recollection of this. Next was Hannah ( my friend since I was 5) and my little brother Michael. Now since I have been friends with Hannah I have seen her cry maybe 3 times my whole life, and Mike is a guy's guy who isn't a crier either. So in they come and as I am crying from the anesthetic, I realize so are both of them. Which made me cry harder because that is why i brought them in to keep me from losing it harder. (Mike will kill me for broadcasting his crying...Sorry lil bro) The feeling slowly comes back to my hands as they wheel me up to the Cancer wing. When I get there, overwhelmed that I was in the "Cancer Wing", I am again greeted from an unlikely member of my past.... Kristen! Now Kristen and I went to summer camp for years together as young girls, seeing her made me feel oddly comfortable in this crazy situation. I thank God everyday that she was there, we laughed about the summers of camp, and the shaving cream fights. (I'll explain that in another blog) Leave it to me and my luck to be in the only wing that had a broken air conditioner during the heat, like my plate wasn't full enough! After everything simmered down and I was told to get some rest, I found out about some late night visitors! My four besties from the city, now these girls are tough so I expected no crying. In walks Stephanie, Nicole, Charisse, and Suzie, all with blood shot eyes and blotchy faces. I could tell they were crying all night and I knew if I lost it, then so would they. Their visit was so nice, yet cut short because I guess from me holding in the tears Kristen came in and said my heart rate was up so high that they had to leave. Boooooo, but true. As they said their good bye's and drown me with much needed hugs and kisses, I was exhausted yet wired. I hadn't eaten for like 16 hours and I was still waiting for my other little brother to show up with my first meal since. Cliffie was coming from Washington DC, as he had just started his second internship with Ron Paul . Apparently he jumped on the mega bus to take the 6 hour journey, and was waiting for my other brother to pick him up at 30th St. Station. Mike was an hour late, which made Cliffie a tad pissy, especially since he had to sit in front of a Dunkin Donuts after recently starting his diet. After Mike finally picked him up they got on 676 to journey to the hospital, after which they accidentally got on the bridge to Jersey. They got there with my Wawa sandwich around 3 am! I ate it and went to sleep, being woken up in 4 hours to have blood taken.....Great! This would be my new life I guess, my new routine. Which is why the link I posted in the beginning of this blog is to the T how i felt, and still feel. I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Hodgkin's Lymphoma. I'm still as the song says," Trying to get a hold on this!"