PICS from 2 weeks ago & my Vegas/home in DC ER update!!

Dan Grimaldi from the Sopranos and I in NYC

NYC PurpleStride

Phillies game

PANCAN Phillies game night

Always gotta have a Phillies cheesesteak!! YuM! 🙂

Part of our group at the winery… with myself on the end in black jacket, shortest one of coarse 🙂

Part of our group at the 2nd winery

horseback riding!

^2 weekends ago pics!!  When I was in Philadelphia, PA and New York City!

Please DISREGARD my post about “withdraws” from the pain killers and I will be editing that out.

It was a shocker to me when they said it was withdraws and whatnot because sure I take it here and there and I probably take it for the wrong reason.  Sometimes I do have pain but generally I have aches like a backache that I should find a good muscle relaxer or do accupunture or stuff like that instead of the pills.

The symptoms I described that I had in Vegas were all from the infections and the things going on inside of me. When the Vegas Drs said I need to be in ICU immediately I guess they were right.  My scans were pretty horrible and my lab work. I saw the fluid built up, I saw all the air, I saw the hole and just how had it all was.  The infections and the bacteria rushing to by liver or kidney (I forgot which organ it was my surgeon said) was what was making my body shake uncontrollably and have chills, sweats, I was sick and couldn’t eat.  I saw it all in the ER because they are awesome and know me and show me.

Some kind of unbelievable thing happened where I was in Vegas ER under those conditions, I wanted to be released and they wanted me in ICU so we are on completely different pages basically different books. If I knew the seriousness of my condition then sure I would have been more scared and would have stayed but in my head I said I was good enough, no I wasn’t great or fine but I felt stable, so I signed off on a bunch of papers saying that I could die if I don’t stay.

I gave those scans to my doctor Tuesday as I said and they wanted me in the ER immediately where my surgeon met me as well as every top doc at Georgetown.  I had new scans done and it was astonishing.  They could not believe it all just went away.  The massive amount of air was just gone.  The hole in the intestine and rushing bacteria, gone.  I felt fine when they couldn’t believe I was still alive or at most in ICU extremely sick.  It’s funny Tim said:  “The infections and air and stuff probably said screw thing girl, she is too hard and stubborn to beat down so forget her”.  hahaha!  My body just attacked it all on it’s own.  That room they had set for me in the hospital was free for someone else because I got to go home!  It helps to have a strong body and system even when chemo is constantly beating me down.

It’s always nice to be given good news for once.  It stunk it all had to go down in Vegas but going in for what I thought was a need for Oxy was actually a godsend because apparently I had a lot of other things brewing inside.  I’ve been pretty tired since all this but I’m making a conscious effort to forget whatever plans I have daily and things I need to do now that I’m in state and home for once and just rest.

I forgot to mention, last Thursday when we were waiting for our flight they made an annoucement to us that this was their first flight to Vegas and had a cake for all of us.  Umm…. this wasn’t something I wanted to be part of AT ALL!  I’m thinking really?!  Please tell me you are not trying out a new engine or a new pilot too.  I was honestly scared for my life for that entire flight.   Thankfully though it was smooth and we landed just fine!! 🙂

Though that was my first time and VERY LAST time flying Spirit!!  I wasn’t going to because I don’t know of anyone who had flown Spirit until I was at my friends in Florida in February and she said she has and they are fine so I trusted her… haha… they are not fine.  It’s horrible!  There are fees for everything, the seats are SO tight!  I’m small and I thought it was a tight fit, poor Tim who is a normal size guy had a hard time imagine big people!  The seats don’t even recline or anything so it wasn’t comfortable!  This was the same friend who also said the Luxor hotel rooms in Vegas are nice and we stayed there once last year, even upgraded to a suite and it was NOT nice AT all.  Yuck.   I’m very simple when it comes to hotels and flying, I like really nice rooms like what I had at the Palms and flying Virgin.  Simple. 🙂

I’m not sure if I mentioned the meetings we attended or not but they were all great and educational especially the corporate exhibitors.  I’ve learned of a lot of organizations for cancer patients and never knew there were so many!!  Just when you think you have learned of a ton by the internet, you find out about a lot more!

Well it’s time to relax… I believe we have some traveling in Virginia to do tomorrow with an early am start.  Night!

XoXo ~Ashley