20th-22nd Trips to the NIH

My NIH appointments are ordinarily scheduled at 3-month intervals. But for my 20th trip to the NIH, I returned after only one month for a follow-up CT scan of the newly-placed endovascular stent graft. So in July, my sister Julie drove up from Utah to fly back to D.C. with me. During my hospital stay in June, a social worker had given me the phone number for a woman who rents a couple of rooms in her home to NIH patients. We gave this new arrangement a try, but quickly found that staying at the Marriott was well worth the extra expense. There was no air-conditioning in the home, and we were told to turn off the ceiling fan in our room. Knocking on our bedroom door after we’d already gone to bed to introduce us to a gentleman who was a fellow guest, also added to our decision to stick with Marriott. 

It appears that all my future CT scans will include a look at the stent graft. This requires the contrast flow rate to be greatly increased. No one warned me about that, and when the contrast shot through my veins with such force, I was hit with a huge wave of nausea. Somehow I managed to keep from throwing up, but my mouth filled up instantaneously with a lot of saliva that I was unable to swallow for fear of the nausea. I sort of gargled out a call for help. The technician supplied me with a bowl and some paper towels. Pretty soon, we were ready to resume the scan. Once the scan was done, the rest of the appointment was a breeze. At home though, the rest of the summer was chock full of medical appointments and procedures. Because the aneurysm was thought to have been caused by bacteria, 30 days of IV antibiotics were necessary. Our son Shane was trained to administer them at home daily for me, with weekly visits to the clinic to de-access the port in my arm and then to re-access it. Consequently, I had to stop taking my wonder drug, Ibrutinib/Imbruvica, for almost the entire summer. I developed a nasolacrimal obstruction, a blocked tear duct, which began causing pain, swelling, and infections. It took two surgeries to successfully deal with this,, and then, the infectious diseases doctors in Boise and Bethesda insisted that the port in my arm should be removed. It had served me well for 8 years, so I was loath to part with it. But I have come to understand that it was the prudent thing to do, and if it was the source of the serious infections that assailed me in 2015, and can prevent future crises, I’m glad I followed their recommendations.

Dan and I did the 21st and 22nd NIH trips together in September and December. Both went very well; all labs looking good! We stayed in another Marriott hotel, this one with more wallet-friendly rates than the other Marriott. I’ve booked all four of my stays there for this year. The first of these is coming up in March. 

This brings my comings and goings up to date, but much has been happening with our beloved sons and their families, all of which requires nearly constant prayer. This includes prayer due to changes in marital, employment, and educational status, adoption, a mini family reunion during Thanksgiving, our first ever family baptism session in the temple, the birth of a baby boy, prayers for peace, protection, and understanding, prayers for health and increased faith, for comfort and guidance, as well as many many prayers of gratitude. "Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed." (D&C 123 "17)

18th and 19th Trips to the NIH

I’m still here! Still alive, still happy, and still aware of many blessings. This isn’t to say that I am free of all heartache and trials, but in Paul’s words, “I am persuaded, that neither death, or life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:37-39)

Here’s a quick recap of 2015. Last March,, still weak from my lengthy illness, I was especially grateful that Dan could accompany me on my 18th trip to the NIH. Yes! I found that I was still eligible to remain in the Ibrutinib clinical trial! For the 19th visit in June, I scheduled a little longer stay in Bethesda, because Colin and Macey would be my travel companions, and I wanted them to have a little time for some sight-seeing. Since this appointment would mark my third year in the trial, a CT scan and a bone marrow biopsy were performed in addition to the usual blood draw. With those out of the way, next came an everything’s--looking-good consult with the PA. But as Colin and I left the exam room to wait in the lobby to be called back to see Dr. Farooqui, things took a sudden, unexpected turn. We came upon him in the hallway exchanging introductions with a couple of doctors, and he stopped a moment and said, “Mrs, Washburn, pleas wait in the exam room.” This was out of the norm, and I was immediately on alert. Colin and I went back into the room we had just exited, and sat down. Mystifyingly, Dr. Farooqui entered the room with the two doctors, where more introductions were made. Then Dr. F. told us that the CT scan had revealed a serious problem. I cannot remember exactly what he said, but I know that I was the first to speak these words, in the form of a question, “an abdominal aortic aneurysm?”. And his reply was, “yes.) Even now, recalling this experience months later, I still feel a shadow of the panic that grripped me at that moment. But it passed quickly. I knew I was in excellent hands, and I felt all would be well. And it was, too. Soon, I was whisked over to nearby Suburban Hospital, where noted cardiac surgeon, Dr. Michael Peter Siegenthaler, placed a stent, or a graft, in the bulging artery, thereby saving my life. Thank you, Dr. Siegenthaler, and to the astute CT scan reader who spotted the problem, and to everyone involved in yet another miracle for me. Yes, I remember Him, and have thanked him many times, too. It is believed by the experts, that the aneurysm was caused by a bacterial invasion, and I am thus on antibiotics for life.

Sadly for me, Colin and Macey returned home on Friday, and I was left behind in Bethesda, until Shane arrived on Monday to escort me home on Tuesday. At first I was very afraid. But once I was liberated from the ICU, untethered from the IV, so that I could move about on my own, without having to summon a nurse for help every time I needed to use the bathroom, I became quite content and comfortable again. I had brought 4 digital books with me, and finally settled in my new more private room, I spent the weekend reading voraciously.

Feeling surprisingly well, Shane and I began the homeward journey, only to encounter a delay which caused us to have to spend the night on the floor of the St. Paul/Minneapolis airport. Les miserables!! It was important for me to receive an IV infusion of antibiotics every 24 hours, so instead of going to bed when we stumbled off the plane in Boise on Wednesday morning, we hurried over to the hospital to take care of that. We managed to nap in the afternoon a bit though, which was very fortunate, because the next crisis was upon us.

I went to bed early that night, but was awakened around 10PM by Dan, who was shivering and shaking in bed beside me. I knew he hadn’t been feeling well, but suddenly he was very ill and rather uncommunicative. It became clear to me that he needed immediate medical attention. I let him know that Shane and I would get him to the emergency room if he could get to the car, but if not, I would be calling for an ambulance. At times, when one is ill, someone has to step in and make those crucial decisions. Dan had done that for me back in January, and now I was returning the favor for him. He somehow rallied enough to get to the car, and we drove to the ER. After several hours, he was admitted to the hospital, and Shane and I came home to rest. Our Shane was a blessing to us during this time. He moved home just when we needed him most. His promised job didn’t start until things had calmed down considerably, and others could occasionally lend a helping hand. Soon it was determined that Dan had a UTI, and there ffollowed much testing for its source. On Thursday or Friday evening, we were given devastating news, which to our great relief, turned out to be incorrect. Another miracle? The doctor had come into Dan's room and told us that there were malignant metastatic lesions on his bones. Further tests did not support that diagnosis. Yes, to my mind, this is another miracle!