Thursday, August 4, 2011

The WAITING

That's what I did for a big chunk of yesterday, wait.  Waiting room for at least 30 minutes.  Waiting for the needle lady to get me hooked up.  Waiting to see the doctor.  Waiting at the appointment desk.  Don't get me wrong, it's not that big a deal.  I was clockwatching the whole time though, as my appt time for chemo came and went.  It was insinuated that I might not be able to do my chemo if it got too late when I scheduled it.  I don't like chemo, but I kind of need to do it.

It helped a little when the doc's nurse assured me that the chemo nurse could call her about the delay, that it wasn't my fault.  And she also was looking in to why I waited so long.  I appreciate that.  I can't remember the last time that I waited less than 1.5 hours for the whole seeing the doc thing.

Finally around noon, I got called back to the chemo lounge.  Premeds arrived quickly, and things went smoothly.  And I was outta there at about 4:30.  Not bad at all!  Well, kind of bad, since I spent the entire day at the cancer center.  I can think of about a million things I'd rather be doing.

There was an older couple sitting to the left of my chemo chair.  I think it was the wife's first chemo, because there were several people explaining things to them.  At one point I heard them wondering how to get to the bathroom while attached to the pole.  I had to go anyway, so I unplugged and wheeled past them.  They watched me every time I got up.  They were watching me quite a bit while they were there, too.  It's times like these that I wish I was more talkative and willing to strike up a conversation.  The chemo lab is just not the place where I feel like doing that.  Plus, I was watching Freedom Writers (which is a pretty good movie, if you were wondering).

I forgot my lunch in the car, so that left me reading labels on all the snacks.  Lorna Doone cookies?  Vegan.  As were the peanut butter crackers.  Eric would have popped over, but it's all the way across town and I didn't want to bother him if I could help it.  I think I would have felt better eating my own food though, it was just healthier (lentil stew and something else, I forget now).  I wish they had fruit or veggies at the cancer center.  Maybe most people aren't up to eating that stuff, but there must be something healthier than Lorna Doone cookies.  And no, I don't think Fig Newtons are healthier.  Or the jello and pudding.  I guess I shouldn't rag on the cancer center too much, since my main staples on chemo weekends are ramen noodles and popsicles. 

The only other thing that happened is that my next CT scan is scheduled for August 17th.  I was a little surprised because I thought we were going to wait until Sept, but the doc is antsy to see if the chemo is working well.  At first he was only going to do a chest CT, which would be nice since I wouldn't have to drink the barium.  I was reluctant.  I reminded him that my pelvis did light up, most likely due to radiation, but what I'm secretly worried about is my liver.  So far so good, it's been clean.  However, never did I even think cancer would pop up in my lungs.  The barium isn't that bad, and feel free to remind me of this when I'm bitching and moaning about how gross it is.  Haha.

So I'm keepin' on keepin' on.  We start school around here next week (as long as I have my act together) and homeschool group too.  I also have a few sewing projects in the works.  It will be good to keep busy.

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