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Discharge Preparation Begins, First Discharge from Moffitt

The last few days of chemo and preparing for discharge was a coordinated effort.
I will cover a lot of this information through text messages.
Several things had to happen:
-Mathew needed a lung drain 
-For his medications to be changed from IV to pills
-Discharge information for 
     home health care
     insurance
     and co-pays

The people involved in all of this was Mathew, His Dad Arpie, Stepmom Diane, myself and Debra Bock RN

Texts Between Myself and Arpie

Did I catch Diane before she left?? I
am going to stay evening and night.
Sent March 15

I will need to go home for a few hours
tomorrow to clean Mat’s room and bathroom.
Apparently, I also need to wash the cats!!!
Sent March 15

We will make it happen.
Rec’d March 15

If I can be relieved this afternoon from 1 to 7
that would help a lot then I will come
back and spend the night.
Sent March 16

Maybe a little after 1 but otherwise
should be no problem.
Rec’d March 16


Okay good.
Sent March 16


Diane said Mat is not being released
tomorrow. Russell goes back to school
and me back to work, amounts to
availability issues. What do you need
to try and work out to help you with
this? We need to advance plan.
Rec’d March 16


I can cover hospital no problem. plus 
Carlos is on Spring Break and gets off
of work by 2:30 ppm Mondays and
1:30 Tuesdays. At some point you will
need to go confirm insurance here and 
we can go to pharmacy here for meds.
I have $250.00
Sent March 16

Are we going to be able to come see Mat
at your house?
Rec’d March 16


Of course, he will be at Kathleen’s.
He will have two bedrooms (one is already full 
of his stuff), his own bathroom and a large
livingroom all to himself.
Sent March 16

Will you be with him there? Will he be okay?
Rec’d March 16


Yes, I plan on being with him most of the 
time other than if I need to run errands, then
my Mom can sit with him and I have a
friend who is a retired nurse who has offered
to help.
Sent March 16

In fact, if you ever want to come up and stay
the night, there is his couch and the chaise to
sleep on. I am assuming we will need
someone with him around the clock, most of the
time.
Sent March 16


I’m hoping as the cancer shrinks some of his problems
will get better. The doctor told him this morning that
the cancer should shrink in the next few weeks.
Sent March 16

One thing about him being home I have plenty
of people who can run errands to the grocery
store or anything else.
Sent March 16



***A note about the logistics of everyone involved. Mathew and I lived in Dade City, Florida….we were 35 miles from Moffitt Cancer Center. The drive was surface roads.
Mathew’s Dad and Stepmom (Arpie and Diane) and his brother Russell, lived in Brandon, Florida. East of Tampa, approx 15 miles away, cross-city traffic conditions. And Brandon is 33 miles from Dade City. Dade City, Brandon, and Moffitt form a triangle.


Mathew used to say, he had good Karma because he was so close to Moffitt that to have Desmoplastic Small Round Cell Sarcoma and not be close to, or able to get somewhere for treatment would be tragic.
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