drip day two

day one runs late. lots of paperwork, explanations, delays. one drug needs at least four hours between treatments. the nurse arranges for a later day-two treatment, to get a suitably long gap in between.

which means that today, treatment starts at noon rather than 8am. at 8am deb phones the clinic -- to make sure that the message did get through. okay, the morning is free.

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side-effects ? ... i wake in the middle of the night -- usual reasons. feel much as ever, perhaps a fraction less steady as i start walking... easy explanation, i was up a bit late, no worry. what does seem like an early side-effect -- the water tastes different. not bad, just different. as it still does in the morning. also my mouth is dry. just a little. it feels somehow like a different form of dry to the usual middle-of-the-night thirst.

i wake up at the usual time, later than deb. i feel quite bright, despite a late night last night. could be the effect of the dex. could be that i was a reluctant waker for the last week or so, not looking forward to chemo. now i've started -- into the familiar -- i'm more positive. which causes me to wake up feeling brighter. could be :-)

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appetite still fine. i seem to have put on weight since yesterday. all that lying around and good hospital scrambled eggs, i guess :-) i eat a usual breakfast. no taste change there.

we go for a run. deb goes 5km, i settle for three, don't want to overdo it.

the gp said that light exercise may help with treatment, make the chemo more effective. nothing proven... but i'll give it a try anyway. if i actually do run each day -- it may slow down my loss of (remaining) fitness.

gp suggested i could check the idea with my cancer doc. pfftt, no, she's a bit hard of listening. answers questions but has trouble hearing outside the expected range.

we run. i do a load of washing. deb phones ivy clinic(*) again, asks about lunch. for a 12 noon start, i'll be offered light lunch. i eat a cracker -- i'm not hungry anyway -- and drink.

(*) I think it's actually Ivy Suite. Close enough.

final email check. time to go.

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yes, i'm typing as i get the chemo drip. one-finger typing. too much trouble to use capital letters.

check-in, very relaxed but not as slow as yesterday. deb gets a parking discount stamp and pays the health insurance excess. i've noticed that my wrist band says catholic, i suggest that the records are changed to no religion. don't want anyone to think i need any last rites... ah well, that line fell flat at the front desk, too.

cannula is inserted on the arm above the wrist. i make sure to not watch. i also do not watch as it is removed and put back in a better fashion. deb stays till i am plugged in to the drip, stays till there is no chance i can run away.

my lunch arrives: cheese and tomato toastie. mostly toastie. definitely a light lunch. just as well, i won't be burning much energy this afternoon.

i text deb to tell her that check-out will be 5pm. deb texts back to ask where we should meet. after several minutes struggle with phone and thumb and retyping each word, i phone deb. a lot quicker. and more pleasant :-)

a woman across the aisle starts a conversation. i have trouble hearing her. it seems to about treatment and effects and what drug is that. pleasant for a while but i'm glad when the conversation fades away.

i've sucked dry a litre of saline. now on a litre of whatever drug it is today. i don't care what it is, i accept that it will help me. or, at least, that is the best available treatment... the cancer doc may not be good at hearing beyond what she expects. she does care. evidence is that she does know what she's doing.

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me and my drip may make a trip to the toilet...

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exciting news -- my bowels have moved ! exciting ? well, doctors and nurses are always asking :-)

more exciting: message from a son, he's in the area, is it okay if he visits, with grandson ? happy to have visitors, i reply.

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that was fun, visitors :-)

a toddler in a cancer i-v ward. i hope he cheered up everyone else who saw him. oh, and nice to see the son as well :-)

last drip bag now connected, a small bag of saline to flush the last of the drugs through the machine and into me.

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Various things happen... Deb picks me up... Home for dinner... I do several things at home... Forget to complete the day's blog. Later, perhaps.

====    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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