Treatment No. 4

Auntie Nancy showed up early, around 8:45am, and I had breakfast and brushed my teeth. Then, she followed me to Fusco's Getty Station in Lawrence so that I could drop my car off for an inspection. Like myself, the Buick has seen better days.

I checked in and waited about 5 minutes before they called me into the room where they lay you back in a recliner and access your port-a-cath. It really hurt the first time since it was still sensitive from the surgery but this time it was no big deal. The big deal occurred when Patricia couldn't get a blood return, which means no blood would flow from the port-a-cath. That's the whole point of having one installed... practically.

Supposedly this happens quite a bit, a fiber and sheath can develop so that liquid cannot pass out. This is slightly disappointing since it means I have to get poked in the laboratory in order to get my blood work done.

This takes about 4 minutes and is practically painless... but still an annoyance since I don't really like Manny, the lab guy.

Then I go back into the room and wait with Auntie Nancy for what seems like forever. I guess they wanted to me to recline and relax so that they could try and get a blood return a second time.

Gloria, the nurse practitioner comes in and talks to me about all of the side effects I have been experiencing... which is luckily not that many. She takes her time reading my extensive file. I take the liberty of sparing her the details of my latest sad-phase.

Kay comes in, removes the access needle and tries again. No deal. So, it's off to the chemo lounge.

I don't know why I'm laughing, I wasn't amused. I think I must have been laughing at Nancy.

I'm pretty sick of the chemo lounge. At first it was ok because it was all new and mildly exciting. New faces, new places... just the kind of things I thrive on. But now, I hate the feeling of the cold medecine going into my veins and the numbness I feel in my mind.

Surprisingly, the time went by much faster than last time when I attempted to sleep. I tried not to look at the bag dripping, like trying not to watch water boil. It worked, I guess.

We got home and I went to bed. FYI: after a treatment is not the best time to call. I am so out of it that the sounds of your lovely voices brings on strong nausea. Sorry for all the missed calls but I slept for the rest of the day.

Auntie Kellie brought over a ton of good food, which I snacked on while watching It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, a hilarious comedy about a gang of twenty-somethings that own a bar. I watched probably 6 episodes but was so drugged up, I could barely laugh. One of the funniest episodes is when one of the main characters lies to his friends about having cancer to get with a girl. My Crazy Daisies, Love Todd

Later, while sitting around eating a piece of bread and helping Billy assemble his new shocks for his truck, the doorbell rang. It was Todd with flowers and ice cream! It was an awesome surprise and made the whole blurry day better. We hung out and watched the new Gordon Ramsey show Kitchen Nightmares. It was an awesome ending to a terrible day.