It was around 5:30pm, Sylvain had just come home from work and I was getting ready to make us some Friday night poutine.  I decided to change Dominique’s diaper before I fed her- and when I did, my heart just about stopped.  Dominique’s central line had come out and was no longer attached to her chest.  I quickly checked for bleeding as the potential danger is massive bleeding and there was none (thank god).  I remember what they taught us when they trained us “call 911 or get to the hospital ASAP”.  We packed our bags and drove there really fast.

When we got to the emergency, I told the nurse that Dom’s central line came out, she immediately left the woman at the counter she was attending to and came to check Dom.  The woman at the counter said to me “central line?” “that sounds important-what’s it for”  I said “her chemotherapy treatments”.  This woman suddenly looked fortunate she was bringing her child in for a mild fever.    I also mentioned that Dom’s blood counts were low due to chemotherapy so we could be removed from potential germs.  Sylvain was sent into a room with Dom while I completed the paperwork.  They paged the surgeons who arrived to see Dom before I even got to the room (talk about fast service!).  It was the same surgeon- Dr. Skarsgard who put Dom’s line in.  He appeared ready to operate on her immediately but changed his mind when he found out she recently ate.  He went to check his surgery schedule and came back with the procedure scheduled for Sunday.  What another, unbelievable turn of events.  After learning two days ago that Dom didn’t need surgery because her line worked, she now needs surgery because it pulled out.

This was definitely an express service.  The ER was very, very busy and we were in and out in 30 minutes.  I guess we’re like any regulars…the more regular, the better the service…  BTW Sylvain goes bald tomorrow.  I’ll post a photo for sure.  Dominique’s hair is starting to fall out increasingly more each day so there is a chance they will be bald together.

Time spent in the hospital on that day: only 30 minutes!