Sunday Icky Sunday

Sunday's are the day reserved for errands and catch-up at the Vamp-lair. VM took the day off to be creative and recharge, so after some time at the gym this morning I took Vampboy around town to shop for food and other such delights.

He was a bit whiny for most of it, but when we returned home he seemed to perk up and turn into his playful self. He was particularly smitten with the family of Morning Doves that has nested in a potted plant outside on our bedroom deck. Tonight, the parent birds flew away long enough for us to spy two babies sitting quietly in the nest. Since we could see them from the bed, we climbed up into bed as a family, watched the momma bird (or was it daddy?) return, and sang Vampboy's greatest hit, "3 little monkeys".

Then, as Vampmommy was sitting up to take VB into her arms, I saw it lying innocently on the bed:

Vampboy's MICKEY Button.

There was a brief moment of surprise and panic - after all, while we knew this little device was replaced every so often, this seemed a little too soon and too sudden. Since it's supposed to be like changing an earring, replacement seemed simple enough. But, since we had never done it before, we took VB to our local ER to get a tutorial....

...A tutorial from HELL, that is. You see, much like an earring hole, the opening the MICKEY fits in will close up if left open for awhile. In most cases (at least by what we're told), it's 6 hours before you'd have a problem getting a new button in. Of course, we're not most people - and karma obviously isn't finished screwing with our heads. The simple demonstration turned into an hour and a half of screaming , as the doctor tried in vain to get a new button in. He never succeeded, so after consulting with our usual team of medical misfits, as I type Vampmommy is making a midnight ride to Chez Healing.

It looks as though Vampboy's stoma (that's the not-so-fancy term for the hole the button went in ) started to close up almost immediately. To fix it, they'll most likely have to put a PEG back in (that is the tube he used to have before, that we had to tape to his stomach to keep from dragging on the ground), and then assess when and if a button makes sense. This is all complicated by the fact that he is most likely in need of a platelet transfusion at this point, and is also reaching the place in his chemo cycle where he's an increased risk of infection.
So, I'm waiting for laundry to finish so I can pack up a bag of clothes and such to be brought down to Chez Healing tomorrow. More news as it develops.

And here I was thinking that I didn't have much to write about this past week. The last few hours certainly made up for that!