45. 8mm deep

Remember when I said I didn't need extra appointments in my life? This past week made a total mockery of that statement!

I had a bit of a crazy idea for the weekend, going to Canberra for a short trip. A friend, Callista, was visiting Ange and the trains and buses didn't quite work out for good times to get in a visit and then get to Canberra for her sister's birthday party in the afternoon. I mentioned to Ange that it could be fun to do a road trip and if Aunty Sylvia and Uncle John were ok with it we could stay the night with them, have a visit and see their new apartment they moved into a few months ago. It all worked out and after brunch at a yummy cafe in Bulli called Two Sisters we set off. Ange, Jon and Evie came as well. I was driving and the weather decided that we needed more rain for some reason so that made it a bit awkward a few times on the way down. But, the 3 hour trip (including one stop halfway) was a good way to have extra visiting time. We dropped Callista off at her sister Larissa's house, had a short visit with her too and then headed to Aunty Sylvia and Uncle John's place which was only 6 mins away.

I'd gotten directions on how to get down in to the parking area and then Aunty Sylvia opened the security gate to let us into the secure section. They have 3 car spots which was nice. Unpack the car and into the lift up to their floor. Uncle John met us at the door and then we got the tour of their place. Beautiful views out to the mountains. That is one thing I like about Canberra. Being surrounded by mountains. I also like that they have cold winters and also (usually) dryer weather. We also got the tour of the pool and garden area which is on the same level as they are.

I decided not to wear my thongs out in the garden area as it was wet and I didn't want to slip and hurt myself. This turned out to mean I ended up getting something stuck in the bottom of my foot, right foot (of course!), the ball of my foot part. I didn't notice when it happened, it's only in hindsight that I think it was the rock that was in the outdoor fireplaces. I'd stepped on the fake grass surrounding it (plastic grass and fire places don't seem a smart idea to me....) and there must've been a little chip/flake I'd stepped on. We all went for a swim. I was in the pool but Ange, Jon and Evie spent most of the time in the spa. It was way too hot for me in there. As it was the pool was a bit too heated for me too but I did a few laps and got some good exercise anyway. Evie LOVED the pool and spa.

I realised something was in my foot before dinner. I've had glass in my foot before and that's what it felt like. There was a black mark and Ange did try to get it out but it was deep and she didn't want to dig around. Maybe it might work its way out? We had dinner, a yummy vegetarian lentil bolognaise sauce over gluten free pasta. I had brought my hexagons with me and after dinner got them out while we were chatting. Evie was interested in what I was doing and wanted to know what they were for. I showed her how they would be sewn together and she asked if she could spread them out, linking the colours up like I had shown her. I said that was a great idea and I had probably about 50 of them at this point. She spent quite a bit of time meticulously matching up colours but also making it look like a flowing colour wheel type thing. It's pretty much the way I was thinking of joining them up and I took a photo to keep as part of the process.

I slept ok, only got up 3 times in the night. Breakfast was some fruit salad, yoghurt and one of Jon's yummy omelettes. Evie wanted to go for a swim again and Jon also wanted to check out the sauna. For me a sauna is a swear word - who would voluntarily want to sit in a small humid room? Yucky! I obviously didn't get that Nordic gene. I did some more hexagons and had a chat with Uncle John while the others were out enjoying the water. My foot still did have something in it, it wasn't too painful but if I put my full weight on my right foot when it was flat I could feel a sharp pain.

When the water play way done and everyone was changed we went and had lunch at a place just down the road. I am happy that my tummy issues are not as bad on the Taxol chemo so I can eat bigger meals and don't have to snack as much in between like before. I ordered a chicken schnitzel with chips and salad. Evie got chicken nuggets and when I said that my schnitzel was one HUGE chicken nugget she looked at my meal with wonder on her face. I had an inside giggle. Lunch was very yummy and then we left for the drive back to Sydney. My foot was ok to drive, I usually drive with my big toe and most of the trip was cruise control anyway. We stopped halfway again for a break and then I dropped Ange, Jon and Evie off at their house.

I decided I should go to the drop in GP at Kirrawee and get them to check out my foot so that I could avoid getting an infection. I drove straight there and got there just after 5pm. The lady at reception said the wait would be about 45-60 mins. I was ok with that. I sat in my car in the carpark and did some more hexagons. The name of the quilt should probably be called "waiting" or something like that. After about an hour I checked in with the reception and she said that there were 4 people ahead of me which could mean about half an hour. There was just one doctor at that time of night. I didn't mind waiting that much, I'm used to it these days! I had some snacks with me as it was dinner time.

Half an hour turned into a lot longer than that. A kid came in with a busted up knee and the Dr spent about 45 mins with him. Then a lady came in with a screaming baby and so she jumped the queue too. Not that she was in there that long, she came out and was sent straight to the emergency room. After about 3 hours or so the Dr finally called my name. I also had to get an indefinite referral for Dr Michael so that was the easy part of the visit. He had a look at my foot, got some tweezers and a needle and dug and pulled around for about 5 mins or so. It hurt! He gets me to go into a back room and says he will use some local anaesthetic. He jabs me in the foot and BLOODY HELL that hurt. Did he hit bone or something? It does go numb after a bit and the proceeds to dig around again and pull but after a short time I start to feel pain again. He says it feels like rock and it isn't one piece. He doesn't want to make the hole bigger, me being on chemo. After almost half an hour he gives up and says he will write me a referral for emergency and also an ultrasound (more ultrasounds!!!). He says that it would probably be best to wait and go to the oncology department in the morning and get them to expedite the process with emergency. So, I go home, pretty light headed and tired by this point. I have some dinner and head to bed early.

Monday - I head to oncology around 9.25am. My foot is a bit sore but I can still drive. I park on Frederick St as I have no idea how long I'll be at the hospital and it's untimed parking there. I walk on the outside of my foot so as not to push whatever is in there further in. The receptionist takes the paperwork to Dr Nick and he says to go over to emergency and use my red card. The ultrasound form is faxed through to get an appointment.

I hobble over to emergency and show the girl at reception my red card. She takes my details and says that the triage nurse will be with me when she is finished with her ambulance intake. There are 8 people in the waiting room and I get to skip to the front of the queue. The triage nurse calls my name in a couple of minutes and takes my paperwork, gets some details of what has happened, takes my blood pressure 124/83, O2 97% and temperature 36.2c. By this time it's about 9.55am and the nurse walks me to a room down the corridor. "I'll put you in here so you don't catch something someone else had brought in" she says.

About 10 mins later in walks a Dr, his name is Adam. He looks at the paperwork, gets me to sit up on the bed and has a look at my foot and asks me what the GP did. I tell him. He goes and gets a trolley with drawers and starts pulling out a syringe, needle, tweezers and a few other things. He says he'll give me a local and jabs me in the foot. It doesn't hurt quite so bad as when the GP did it but it wasn't pleasant either. Soon it's numb and he put a lot more in than the GP had done. He proceeds to dig around, pushing and pulling and gets stuff out. He says "Have you been walking on shale?" That's when I realise that it was probably the black rock from the fire place. He thinks he might have it all out but can't be totally sure. He says that he'll check up on the ultrasound order for me.

Sitting around with my hexagons companions again. About an hour later in comes a nurse and he takes my obs again. 127/84, 97%, 36.4c. He says that the ultrasound will depend on how many other people are in the line up and who is more urgent. I tell him I don't have anywhere else to go anyway. I can hear that emergency must be getting busy by how fast people are walking up and down the corridor compared to when I came in. Over the intercom I hear. "Longest waiting ambulance to bed 6". Oh dear, I hope there isn't too many waiting.

Two and a half hours later an orderly comes to take me to the ultrasound. It's the same guy that wheeled me to the oncology ward when I was sick, not Rick, this is an older, shorter and more bald man. No tattoos. He gets me a wheelchair as he sees my foot has a bandage on and off we go. Emergency IS busy, lots of people waiting in chairs outside my room. I'm getting to know the corridors at the hospital now and a few turns and a few minutes we are at the radiology department.

The lady doing the ultrasound wasn't very happy that Dr Adam had dug around first. She says that the machine can't see through air so it can make it harder to read the scans. She starts off with the normal sized wand but then changes to a very little one, that sort of looks like a bent over toothbrush. She presses hard and when I don't jump she says "Still numb?" I says Yep and she says that's good, she can get a better reading. After a few minutes she says "There is a 3mm piece about 8mm deep still in the hole". I'm not surprised, I don't do injuries the easy quick way. She thinks that maybe an x-ray may show it up better, or make sure there wasn't anything else Back to the same room I was in and waiting for Dr Adam to come back.

It was probably about another 20 mins and he comes in again. By this time my foot was really starting to ache, the local was wearing off. He had to give me a top up and after a few minutes says he got the piece that was in there. He thinks the hole is probably about 1cm deep. I know that's going to hurt when the drugs wear off!!! Dr Adam doesn't think an x-ray is needed. He push some antiseptic on and a dressing on my foot. Says he'll write me a script for antibiotics just in case there might be a chance of infection. I hobble out of emergency, the waiting room is jam packed with people, all seats taken and people standing up. All 5 ambulance bays are full, plus another one that is parked on the drive nearby. I hobble across to the building opposite. I still have to get my blood test for chemo tomorrow. It isn't a long wait, maybe 10 mins and then I hobble back to my car.

I'm home by 2.30pm. I had stopped at the pharmacy on the way home to fill my script and my foot was really starting to hurt a lot by this point. I do make it home and I take some pain killers. I have some lunch and then do the introduction of the Traumatic Brain Injury MOOC that started today. MOOC stands for Massive Open Online Course and the Wicking Centre where I did my degree with University of Tasmania has free classes. I decided to keep up with my studies this year and TBI is something I did a bit of in my degree but it will be nice to see what the latest studies and information is.

Chemo tomorrow - what will the rest of the week bring?