drip-day three

it's 6pm. i'm tubed up, cannula in the left arm, drug dripping in. deb has just left, she'll be back about 10pm. okay for me, a late night for deb.

exciting medical news: my bowels have moved :-)  funny, that of all the possible side-effects the one i dread most is constipation. perhaps because it's so awful -- and so understandable. my stomach feels a bit stressed, no interest in fatty foods, appetite otherwise fine.

it's dinner time, i'm eating clinic sandwiches. hungry but not for another toastie.

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the clinic room is long and narrow. a row of adjustable chairs down one side, a couple of metres between each chair. adjustable, i enjoy controlling my chair :-)

woman in the next chair was on the phone when i came in. she's just hung up, an hour later. that's one way to fill in the time. her husband is sitting in the visitor's chair. aha! he's just started talking with her. he offers patient company :-)

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deb checks one of the information booklets. yes, my daily dex is a steroid, anti-nausea, an appetite builder -- and causes fluid retention. good news: i no longer need to wear a belt.

here's a side-effect that i was not warned about: chafing -- extreme itching -- in the bum. in the crack between my buttocks. extra weight, more flab to rub, chafing. sometimes from sitting and sweating. more likely from jogging and sweating a lot. easy fix, apply vaseline before running. no more chafing.

it's cold in here tonight. i ask for, receive, a blanket. may snooze for a bit.

once the tube is in my arm, i have nothing to do. (except go to the toilet. wheeling the stand with drip bags and pump.) bags are changed while i just lie back and relax.

i've turned the stand so i can see the control panel. another 60ml of this litre to pump. ah, the excitement :-) it's becoming a routine. should be less and less to blog... i hope.

an email today gives the schedule for the next cycle. one week daily dripping, two weeks of monday drips. the second cycle starts immediately after this one ends. then the third cycle -- yet to be confirmed -- will run through the easter orienteering carnival. i doubt i'll be running. i hope i'll be okay to stagger round my courses :-)

time for another litre of drug drip. then... snooze.

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ooohhhh... i just voluntarilly joined a conversation ! we discussed naming conventions of grandparents for their children and grandchildren. the more living oldies there are, the more confusing it gets.

phew, done. back to snoozing, neighbour is back to knitting.

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as we suspected, tomorrow will be rescheduled. to allow a minimum time (12 hours?) between doses of tepozide. whatever that is. if i heard the correct name. not one of the bep & ep combinations on my schedule, anyway. an extra, definitely beginning with t. probably :-)

time still to be finalised, probably 3:30 rather than 9am. good, suits me. we'll get a phone call tomorrow.

aha... etoposide... it's the e drug.

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I snack on coffee and cake and biscuits, appetite still good :-) Go to the toilet, twice. There's a lot of saline dripping into my vein. My kidneys are still working well.

Deb picks me up at quarter past ten. Relax, drink tea, eat light snack. Deb is now in bed. I'll wrap this up, play a bit of WoW, write code to access a web database. Tired but restless, I need to unwind before I sleep.

Good to know I can sleep in tomorrow. I'll be back at the Ivy Suite sometime after lunch rather than by 9am. Plenty of time for us to do the regular weekly shopping. And go for a run...

====    Dr Nick Lethbridge  /  Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
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"If I had only one hour to save the world, I would spend fifty-five minutes defining the problem, and only five minutes finding the solution." … Einstein
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dying for you to read my blog: notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au :-)
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