Friday, February 15th. My appt with Dr. Stone at Virginia Mason was at 2pm. By 3pm I had been lifted onto a gurney and was being taken to the dermatology section of the hospital for biopsies. I loathe biopsies. At that point I had only had one on my chest and, as you may remember, I literally passed out during the removal of ONE stitch. Anyway, I didn't have a choice and wasn't really informed of too much. All that I knew at that point was that I was going to be admitted into Virginia Mason, that I was very sick, and that I was in so much pain I couldn't even move myself.
The worst pain that I remember feeling was during the three biopsies that were done on the outside of my left calf. I remember laying on the table and looking at the white ceiling and bright lights. I remember that Mom and Mama Jo were at opposite sides of my head holding my hands. I remember that there were multiple people in the room and that one woman was instructing another woman how to do the biopsies. I am 100% positive that I felt everything. They were punch biopsies and each one made me scream and writhe in pain. i know that my Mom either cried or almost cried during this. I remember her asking them if they even numbed me and they all tried to figure out why it was so incredibly painful. I have no idea what the problem was (the punch biopsy on my chest months prior didn't hurt at all when they did it) but there was most definitely a problem and I felt everything.
The next memory that I have is of me being on the gurney and pushed through halls on my way to my room. I was lifted onto my bed and they rolled the board out from under me as they re-positioned me to be sitting up in my hospital bed. I remember being absolutely mortified that I couldn't physically help them at all and was completely at their mercy. I was still crying from the biopsies, in severe pain all over my body, scared, and royally peeved that I was being admitted. Then I found out that I had to share a room. Ugh.
Sharing a room ended up being an extremely important blessing that I desperately needed. I was moved into a room with two of the most wonderful women, Diana and Robbie. Robbie was recovering from a surgery and her partner Diana was by her side the entire time. Those women quickly took me under their wings and became vital parts of my hospital stay. I was blessed to be in their room with them for about two days before they moved to a private room down the hall (of course I made Mom and Mama Jo take me to go see them daily my entire stay!). That first night there I was in immense pain. The nurses weren't doing much to get it under control. Mom and Mama Jo stayed with me for a few hours and then went to get dinner and find a hotel. At that time Diana stepped right on up as "stand in Mom". She told me stories, got to know me, and made certain to get a nurse every single time that I whimpered in pain even if I told her that I was doing "just fine". That entire night she took care of me. I honestly do not know what I would have done that evening without her.
I can't remember much about the first few days. I know that my sweet friend Amber came to visit me every single day that I was there. Being in Seattle, four hours away from my home, I didn't really expect visitors. I was grateful that Mom and Mama Jo stayed as that was more than I honestly expected. My friends and family went above and beyond. Amber came and saw me daily, her boyfriend Mitch came with her a few times, my best friend Laura's sister Marie came and brought her daughters (and her husband ended up helping Mom and Mama Jo out with a discounted hotel room for the majority of their stay, too!) as well as some amazing homemade chocolate chip cookies, a friend of mine from high school named Amber Spink came to see me, another friend from high school, Phillip Matson, came and brought his new wife to meet me, Kathryn and her super adorable little girl Brynn, and my friend Shawn planned a trip to visit his family there and made time to surprise me with a visit! After they moved rooms, Diana came to visit me multiple times daily.
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