Cycle 3, Week 2, Day 2

Monday: a new treatment cycle begins. We start with the cancer doc.

Remember my "nappy rash"? I treat as "chafing" keep it dry, coat it in Vaseline. No improvement. I treat it as a fungal infection: keep it dry, use an anti-fungal cream.  It's still there but -- possibly -- faded. (It's in a difficult area for me to examine. Deb doesn't want to look.)

The cancer doc says, No, no expected treatment side-effect of "rash". Oh well, buy more anti-fungal cream.

Then spend all afternoon with the IV drip.

A restless night. Dex effect ? Or just a lot on my mind ? I spend a few hours on the PC, some of it on my Senate "campaign". Busy, busy, busy :-)

I apologise if this blog is sparse :-( Time flies when you're running for parliament -- and have no idea what to do ! Don't worry, if anything unexpected happens -- I will blog it :-)

Tuesday: another day of IV chemo ! I weigh myself at the start of each day of treatment. Yes, I have gained 2kg since yesterday. With the bloat that comes with chemo, I have taken off my wedding ring... before it cuts off all circulation. Don't worry, it was Deb's suggestion !

Saline, dex, saline, chemo one, saline, chemo two, saline... and it's done. Into the clinic at 1pm, ready to leave just after 5pm. No worries.

Better fun, though: I enjoy the company of our grandson, for an hour or so before I am dropped off for chemo :-)

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

"Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear and no concept of the odds against them." … Robert Jarvik

===

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au/ :-)

enjoyable Easter !

Phew, what an Easter !

The state orienteering association hosts a national Easter carnival -- seven events over ten days. Deb and I enter five of the events. We would have won them all, too, except that everyone else goes faster than us :-)

Two days out near Beverley, two days in Narrogin (we stay overnight, in a nice motel). A lot of driving, a lot of bush... walking for me, jogging for Deb. Beautiful weather, all very pleasant.

Now it's time to relax, get back to politics, "look forward to" a week of chemo.

===

There's an article in this morning's paper that, well, I'm not sure whether I'm glad to read it, or not...

An Australian has discovered a chemical which seems to make "temozolomide" more effective. Yes, temo is the drug which I took for brain cancer. Add this new chemical to the mix and -- so it seems -- the temo will work better.

That's great! I think. It's only been tested on mice, it needs a lot of money and time to be tested on humans, bother, I think. Patients with my cancer tend to die within 12 to 15 months, says the article. Oh bother, I think, I may not live long enough to take advantage of the new drug. I'm still alive and it's five months beyond that 15 months... Good-oh, I'm beating the odds, I may still live forever... I think :-)

The article reminds me that my cancer (one of them!) is terminal. Momentary gloom... That treatment is constantly improving. No more gloom... That treatment may not improve within my lifetime. That my lifetime is... so far, so good :-)

Mixed feelings ! It does make me think. But, my thinking is not very deep... Now I'm back to the status quo: enjoying life as it comes. No worries.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

"Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear and no concept of the odds against them." … Robert Jarvik

===

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au/ :-)

Virus-free. www.avast.com

all well, still tired

I'm not really sure that I'm the perfect political candidate :-) After all, I know nothing about politics. Still, it's been on my to-do list for a while.

What am I talking about ? See https://nick4hemp.blogspot.com/ for an explanation. Of course it's a blog, I still fail to understand the more usual Facebook. Anyway...

The last couple of days, I sleep a lot. Not to worry, I like to sleep a lot. Though it can be rather annoying, how tired I get. Body wearing itself out fighting disease, I hope.

The "nappy rash" that I wrote about, a few days ago... is proving hard to shake. It may be more than chafing. "Rash" is (I think) one of the possible side-effects of my drugs. Bleaahh. Oh well, I can mention it to the cancer doc, I'll be seeing her next week. And then going on IV for five days. As long as my "blood counts" are back to normal.

Apart from feeling rash and tired -- I'm feeling quite well !

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

"Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear and no concept of the odds against them." … Robert Jarvik

===

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au/ :-)

... something different

and now for something completely different... something which really does deserve a monty python intro :-)

but first: an action packed easter...

i've found -- again -- the secret to a sound night's sleep. just be very, very tired.

saturday is a sprint orienteering event. estimated winning time, 15 minutes. i take 46 minutes. a pleasant walk on a complex map. i take it slow and easy, watch the map, never lost.

sunday is a "long" orienteering event, 90 minutes drive from home. my course is 5km. with a lot of up and down. i get lost before the first control but manage to relocate. continue, slow but steady, just walking. till the fourth control...

having been lost, then found again, i am going uphill to the fourth control. my normal approach to uphill is to slow down. today, i sit down. several times.

at the control... at last... i look at the map, i'm less than half way round the course. with lots of hills still to be climbed. i look at a straight line between where i am, directly to the finish. it looks open, it looks -- after one more short climb -- to be quite flat. i head directly to the finish.

i cut across the map, fail to finish the course, i'm happy to say that this is the right decision. i know that i have lost fitness, today lets me know just how unfit i am!

so, of course, monday we are back for more :-)  "we"? deb also competes. she finishes her three events. slow and steady and faster than me :-)

monday i do finish my "mid distance" course. we drive home, eat dinner. then, during the tv news, i fall asleep on the couch. i wake up to hear david attenborough talking about sex and tits, and how the tits use their hot legs to keep their eggs warm. then i go to bed and sleep soundly, very soundly.

===

to wake up on tuesday to something completely different. i spend a lot of this morning completing the process of nomination for election to the senate. yep, i'm running for parliament :-)

briefly: i think that politics and parliament are such a joke that just putting up my hand is better than doing nothing. though my campaign plan is, essentially, doing nothing.

but it's nothing to do with cancer -- unless my brain has been permanently damaged :-) so i'll start a separate "campaign" blog, provide a link in a later not.dead.yet post, and keep this blog to the theme of cancer and holidays. with only the occasional cross-promotion ...

vote 1 nick :-)

====    Dr Nick Lethbridge  /  Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
===

"Life is like riding a bicycle. When you fall off you get right back on  and wobble into traffic, causing jams by getting in the way of more successful people who own cars." … Pardon my Planet
===

dying for you to read my blog: notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au :-)
====
   

white cells down, good news

monday. in to see the cancer doc. she says, your white cell count is low, platelet count is low... today's iv is cancelled. so good news -- no iv today. and bad news -- no iv treatment today.

white cells are at 0.7, better than this time last cycle when they were at 0.2, minimum for treatment is 1.0. platelet count is (i think she said) 108. whatever that means.

as deb later says, at least the chemo is definitely killing *some* cells :-)

===

for the rest of the day i shop, rest, relax, do some work on the pc. sure my cancer treatment is interrupted. but it's a relief to not have a cannula into my vein. and a two week break over easter, till the next big chemo week.

tuesday, deb is not at work, nothing much planned. out for coffee in the morning, out for a run in the afternoon. even our run is good, in the dry patch between rain showers. i manage -- quite easily -- 4km in 40 minutes. slow but steady.

===

tuesday night i wake up -- as usual -- damp with sweat. here's why:

i go to bed and feel cold. so i pull up every blanket. i fall asleep -- as soon as i reach a comfortably warm temperature. then, while sleeping, i continue to warm up... until i wake up, hours later, far too warm -- and sweating.

well, this time i wake up sweating. and with an itchy backside. i find a mirror, a light, i look at my backside. and see what i can only describe as, extreme nappy rash ! damp, warm, wrapped up in blankets... i don't think i can claim this as a chemo side-effect. i ease the itch with vaseline. throw off blankets. go to sleep dry, though chilly.

morning, not so itchy, still looks bad. deb is sympathetic. for babies, she says, we keep them dry, use vaseline, let them roam loose with no pants. you can do that, she says, but not till i've left for work.

and now it's wednesday. i'm feeling fine, itching is fading. could be a busy day. first, i think, i'll have a bit of a rest...

====    Dr Nick Lethbridge  /  Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
===

"Life is like riding a bicycle. When you fall off you get right back on  and wobble into traffic, causing jams by getting in the way of more successful people who own cars." … Pardon my Planet
===

dying for you to read my blog: notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au :-)
====
   

symptoms and the doc

this morning i woke up and -- for no apparent reason -- had an insight: the cancer doc is not interested in my symptoms and side-effects... per se.

per se? is that right? i mean, the cancer doc is not interested in my symptoms and side-effects, not *for themselves*. not even for the picture it provides of how i am feeling.

the cancer doc is only interested in my symptoms & side-effects so that she can adjust my treatment.

for example: she does ask if i have nausea. (which i now understand to mean, did i vomit?) her interest is, if i have nausea she will suggest an anti-nausea drug. how do i feel about being sick? that is barely relevant -- unless i feel sick enough to want to take an anti-nausea drug. when i say that i am managing mild nausea by regular snacking (and prunes) she is not really interested.

each week my white blood cells are counted. when the count dropped close to zero, the doc did not offer advice on avoiding disease. her interest is in treatment: she cancelled that day's chemo. admittedly i was with deb, who clearly understood the perils of a low white cell count.

when the doc asked if i had tingling in my toes or fingers, she wanted to know if my body is coping, or should my treatment be adjusted. when i said that the tingling of my feet was slightly worse -- but not painful, not affecting my balance -- no further interest. (well, she was briefly interested to hear that i had had tingling for quite a few months. i had already told her that, told her three or four times. she had not heard, she is not a good listener.)

very old insight: the cancer doc is not a good listener.

new insight: she hears responses to her own questions. she has trouble hearing things that i say that are not in response to her questions. unless i trigger a standard, "we can change the treatment" response. eg if i say i am nauseous.

and: if my answers do not indicate any reason to change my treatment, her interest quickly fades.

===

don't get me wrong, this is not a problem. if, for example, i had been seriously worried about the tingling feet, i would have shouted louder.

what it is, is a new understanding. perhaps what i say really is being ignored -- but not everything, not entirely. the doc is hearing what i say (most of it). she will only respond when there is a need (or an opportunity) to change my treatment. her basic assumption is, that the treatment is working. her interest in my side-effects and symptoms is, to know when the treatment is not working. then to adjust treatment accordingly.

===

every three months or so, after each mri scan, i like to visit my gp. i justify the visits by such exciting procedures as having a wart removed, wax flushed out of my ears, listening to my heart beat just in case... mostly, though, i talk and she listens. sympathetically. as though she is hearing what i am saying.

my cancer doc manages my cancer treatment. i am happy to trust her with my life, though i now realise that my treatment -- and my life-- is the practical limit of her interest. my gp has nothing whatsoever to do with my cancer treatment. yet she *listens* to what i am saying. it is a very positive experience to talk with a doctor who is interested in more than the only disease that affects me.

i see my cancer doc on a very regular basis, especially in times of regular chemo treatment. i make regular visits to my gp -- though my non-cancer health is as good as ever. deb wonders why i bother.

i knew that gp visits were worthwhile, certainly to my general happiness. and now i have an understanding of why. it's complementary medicine: one doctor treats the cancer, the other treats the patient.

====    Dr Nick Lethbridge  /  Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
===

"If It Ain't Broke, Break It" … Meat Loaf
===

dying for you to read my blog: notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au :-)
====
   

two quick dreams

Amazing how exhausting it can be to look after a toddler, even for a few hours. At least, Deb did seem to get exhausted. I slept for most of it... except for driving the boy home, where I used my Grandad super-powers to keep him awake and cheerful :-)

The rest of the day is shopping, coffee... and exercise. I try jogging again, no worries, a slow 3km. Again, feeling more lively than on the day before. Just a slight worry that -- at this stage of the previous chemo cycle -- my white cell count hit almost zero. I avoid wiping the toddler nose.

===

Dream one: Three of us, those who run, are at the start of an Olympic race. The race is... indoors, just a dozen people, all very informal... and all three of us are about to compete in this Olympic final. I know this with absolute dream certainty.

The other two are preparing to run. I'm thinking... Perhaps I should tell the starter that I am not really ready to run in this Olympic final?

My interpretation is rather straightforward: Over Easter Deb and I are entered into half a dozen events of an Australian Easter Orienteering carnival. We intend to be there; whether I run (ie jog slowly), walk, or just sit it out -- we aim to be at each event. I admit that I am slightly worried: will I even be able to *walk* round my courses?

Okay, say no more, you can probably guess at my interpretation of that Olympic dream :-)

===

Dream two: I'm phoning someone, not sure -- even in the dream -- who I'm phoning. Finally realise that I am phoning emergency, triple zero. They answer. Do you want... and I don't catch the three options. I struggle, try to read a page of notes, finally decide that "police" could be the right answer.

Hello, Police Commissioner Someone, says the person on the phone.

Ooohhh… I'm struggling. Why am I calling ? Ohhh... sorry... my mistake, I say. And hang up.

Deb asks me, Who are you phoning? I can't really answer.

My interpretation: Could be inspired by my phone's habit of "pocket dialling" triple zero. Could be that I'm worried about something. Could be that I recognise that I'm getting rather old and confused :-)

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

"Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear and no concept of the odds against them." … Robert Jarvik

===

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au/ :-)

tuesday, wednesday, not so tired

tuesday. i wake up soon after deb. and think, i could go for a brisk walk! so, after breakfast, deb jogs for 6 or 7 km (she's in training) and i walk (not so briskly) for 40 minutes.

as we're about to set off i grab a prune. still need the prunes? deb asks. it's more that i don't dare go cold prune turkey...

aside from that brilliant repartee... tuesday is very peaceful, quite uneventful.

though my voice comes and goes. the iv drugs (i think) dry out my mucous membranes. this includes my mouth and throat, causing me to lose my voice. deb, at least, is pleased :-)

have i mentioned weight gain? tingly soles? hair loss? no need to shave? now voice loss... if these are the worst of my chemo side-effects -- i'm laughing. (or i will be, when my voice returns.)

===

wednesday i wake up at 1am and fail to go back to sleep. i normally only half wake up to go to the toilet. so i am already half asleep when i get back to bed. sometimes -- and i blame the dex effect -- i wake up fully. it's then easy to convince myself that i just can't get back to sleep.

and on wednesday night i have this idea churning through my mind. an idea which just demands to be documented... so i get up and write it down. it takes several hours. enough time for deb to wake up, worry about me, get up to ask if i am okay (i am), go back to sleep.

and btw, the idea ends up on my ranting blog, at  https://my3rs.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-pwbattpack.html

that's a blog that i began years ago, for my ranting, raging and raving at the stupidity of the world... it gets my rants off my chest. and deb doesn't even have to mutter, yes dear, as i grumble over the morning newspaper. hmmm. a very similar purpose to this blog. and it works :-)

===

after being awake for several hours, i spend a lot of this morning resting. then writing a couple of letters. now it's time to get back to a document which i want to convert to an online wiki, i hope that it will then be a lot easier to use. but i won't know till i play with the fully loaded wiki...

====    Dr Nick Lethbridge  /  Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
===

"If It Ain't Broke, Break It" … Meat Loaf
===

dying for you to read my blog: notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au :-)
====
   

monday, tired

monday is a quick drip day. first to the cancer doc then to ivy clinic for a half hour drip, bleomycin. the b-drip is each monday of each three week chemo cycle.

deb is at work so i drive myself. for most of the weekend i'm too tired to move. monday i'm tired but moving. slowly. carefully.

blood levels are okay, says the doc. no actual numbers. i don't ask.

 i do ask about the current treatment: this chemo is for testicular cancer, the "curable" one. did i not get it right at the start because it's not wise to mix brain and ball chemo? true. okay... at the time i simply did as advised. now i have time to try to understand it. not to question treatment -- i have great faith in the medical expertise -- but i do like to understand what is going on.

i also learnt something about my knowledge and the doc's knowledge of *my* cancer.

way back, i was already committed to brain radiation and brain chemo when questions were asked, should the already spreading testicular cancer also be treated. radiation was extended to both brain and gut, to tackle both cancers. chemo was limited to brain chemo. the doc did not (today) remember that the ball cancer had already spread, that i had one chemo but two sets of radiation.

i am only interested in one pair of cancers, my own. i remember (or think i remember!) a lot of detail of my own treatment. the doc is managing dozens? hundreds? of cancers, on many, many patients. she depends on case notes to refresh her memory. not a worry...

except that my case notes are getting thicker and thicker. how likely is it that the doc will re-read all the notes before trying something new? for example, she did suggest radiation for the spreading ball cancer. did she notice that i had already had gut radiation, that it had worked, but the cancer has reappeared?

it doesn't really worry me. it's more a matter of, i will be aware of different levels of awareness of what came before... just in case.

but i wonder: is this a real problem for doctors managing a large number of long term patients? especially patients with complex and varying illnesses and treatments. how easy is it to overlook something which has -- or has not -- already been tried?

===

the monday drip is easy, painless. the nurse starts with the usual questions about falling over, allergies, mouth ulcers... at which point i ask, what is an ulcer?

the tip of my tongue stings, just a bit. is that an ulcer? an abcess? what about the tooth that aches? (i may have been grinding my teeth in my sleep.) what the nurse describes, no, i don't have that.

some time in the past i may have had an ulcer, i don't really know. i've had an abcess or two, the sort where you can't see anything anyway but the dentist pumps in anaesthetic, rips the crown off a tooth, gouges out poison and gives you a sweetie to stop the crying. (i may be mistaken about the sweetie.)

but do i have an ulcer? no idea... what is an ulcer?

it's a bit like "nausea", another standard question. yes, i have nausea, i snack a lot to keep it under control... no, that's not what the doctor or nurse wants to know. the correct question is, have you been face down over the dunny, chundering up your last meal?

for most of my life i have visited a doctor perhaps once every two or three years. i have not learnt the language of disease. i have no memory of illness and its effects.

it's a communication problem. i need to learn key words. doctors need to remember that not everyone knows the language of illness.

===

so i get the drip and drive home. via a garage to pump the tyres. to a shop for some groceries. all very slowly and carefully. so slowly that deb -- before i am home and have sent an email -- is worried.

===

i spend the afternoon resting, mostly sitting. with occasional bursts (slow bursts) of activity. two loads of washing. can't be bothered hanging out so i use the clothes drier. clean the toilets (one of my few household chores). rest in between each activity.

yes, i'm feeling a lot more active than i was on the weekend :-)

====    Dr Nick Lethbridge  /  Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
===

"If It Ain't Broke, Break It" … Meat Loaf
===

dying for you to read my blog: notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au :-)
====
   

tired but well

friday, fifth day of iv cycle two, over four hours lying back having deadly drugs dripped into my vein. no worries, a very easy process :-)

it does involve more than two litres of saline dripped in, to dilute the drugs and flush the iv pump. so there are also several trips to the toilet, to pee. i try to time these trips for when a nurse is close, in case i knock a tube and stop the flow. but, today, no worries.

and it gets even better... yes, it's time for too much information from the informant, deep bowel.

my digestion has slowed down. i took a satchet of doomoorpoo (or somesuch) and, okay, there is regular poo. perhaps a four on the bristol stool scale (i love it) but a bit sticky and not very much of it. moving -- which is a relief -- but slowly.

thursday, deb buys a packet of prunes. yes, a deliberate choice. and i do like prunes. i may have eaten a dozen during the day.

thursday and friday -- given a choice of clinic / hospital lunch, i choose sandwiches. rather than hot meal. sandwiches offer more carbs to need digesting. i also eat them very slowly, to keep a bit of food in my stomach. this keeps the stomach settled.

friday afternoon i go to the toilet and... kapow! poooey! definite type four -- ideal -- and lots of it. enough poo to clear the last few meals. an hour later -- another lot of type four poo. later that evening -- yet more. still ideal quality stools.

saturday morning and the rush is over. no more fear of constipation. though i am too nervous to eat more than two or three more prunes.

===

saturday morning. i drive us to a local doctor to have a weekly blood sample extracted. i am getting noticeably more tired, after this i let deb drive. we take time for coffee and muffin, then to the ivy clinic for my saturday injection (to encourage white cell production). i'll show you how to inject yourself, says the nurse. no way i'll inject myself, i say.

being injected doesn't worry me. but i don't like to watch. and i won't do it myself.

===

i spend the rest of saturday being exhausted. just lying around or sitting around.

btw: a bonus of being tired... for the last few weeks i am too tired to play very much world of warcraft. none at all, the last few days. the constant rsi -- aching shoulders, neck, arms -- has disappeared.

saturday afternoon, i am looking forward to sunday orienteering. perhaps just walk an easy course. sunday morning... i would like to go orienteering. but would rather sleep. deb goes for a run in the suburbs, i sleep. nearly lunch-time, i am mentally rested and physically a lot less tired.

a sure sign that i am feeling better... dealing with the side effects of treatment: i am starting to feel warm. soon, i may even take off some of the blanket, two thick jumpers, thermal, wooly hat, that i am wearing. soon :-)

===

oh, and another benefit of the week's treatment:

i had my hair cut short, ready for it to fall out. mid this week my hair went from patchy to gone. just some short, very fine hairs -- even less than "fuzz" -- across my scalp.

and i have not shaved for a week. there is no need, there is no bristle. luckily enough deb prefers me to be clean-shaven. now, there is no choice :-)

====    Dr Nick Lethbridge  /  Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
===

"If It Ain't Broke, Break It" … Meat Loaf
===

dying for you to read my blog: notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au :-)
====
   

clarification

Just to be clear: I have been to the hospital each day this week but I have *not* stayed overnight.

The daily routine is: Deb gets me to the hospital, to the Ivy (IV) Clinic. From there I am taken to wherever I will be getting the day's IV treatment. There's a large room full of IV patients but this week I have had the luxury of a two-person room in other parts of the hospital. Then I lie back for four or five hours with a variety of drugs being dripped into my veins. After which, Deb picks me up and we go home.

So, no overnight stays. Thank goodness :-)

Also: It's not as bad as I (possibly) make it sound ! This week's posts are often typed in while a nurse is fussing round me; whatever just happened is very fresh in my mind. Typing details into a post puts it all in perspective... Recent posts are so soon after "the event" that they may still be exaggerated.

Everything that is happening is the result of the treatment! Cancer itself is doing very little harm. Perhaps adding to tiredness, or that could just be old age.

Can't say I'm enjoying it... but whatever I report is not really serious. Just preventative (mild) pain for hopefully long-term gain :-)

Now it's time to get more of that preventative gain...

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

"Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear and no concept of the odds against them." … Robert Jarvik

===

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au/ :-)

typing left handed

we have time to do some shopping, then deb drops me off at the clinic. i'm in ward 72 again, acute care. a double room but by myself.

a choice for lunch! hot meal or soup & sandwiches. s&s suits me, hot meals are too low in carbo, my digestion is slowing down, this morning i take an anti constipation powder. just in case.

all goes well for the first hour of drip.

during the change to a drug drip i say ouch... it hurts... it's dripping into tissue. nurses are still there, pump is switched off. cannula removed, new one into right arm, now dripping smoothly.

yesterday's blood bath made me too casual... there was blood but no pain so no worry. today i am less wary of moving the cannulated arm... well...

cannula now in right arm. back to trying to not move that arm or hand. so... very slow typing with one finger of my left hand.

time, i think, to stop typing and just read.

meanwhile: feeling fine :-)

====    Dr Nick Lethbridge  /  Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
===

"If It Ain't Broke, Break It" … Meat Loaf
===

dying for you to read my blog: notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au :-)
====
   

a bit more excitement

Just about finished. On the last bag of drug drip, it's nearly empty. I have the urge to go to the toilet.

Past the man who shares my room. (Did I mention him? He's far sicker than I am. On the way downhill, if I overhear correctly. Poor bloke.)

Going to the toilet one-handed is awkward. Very awkward.

I wheel my drip trolley back to my bed... and notice blood dripping from the cannula hole. I must have knocked the cannula. A nurse arrives.

The nurse wipes blood. (Nice bright red stuff, looking very healthy :-) She reseats the cannula, which is still happily getting drugs into my vein. There's a bit more blood leaking across my palm. The nurse gives me a wet wipe.

Interesting: I don't like the cannula. The blood doesn't worry me at all.

The final flush drip is finished. Blood has stopped flowing. I'm ready to go home.

===

Deb and grandson pick me up. Nice to see them :-)

Deb asks me why I decide to wash the long pants that I'm wearing. I don't want to mention dripping blood in front of the toddler, I'm keeping a light note on what I am doing in hospital Deb fails to take the hint and stop asking. I eventually mutter, Blood.

Not to worry, toddler and I are soon absorbed in transforming Transformers.

===

End of another exhausting day lying still :-) I sleep for an hour after dinner. Still tired enough to be ready to go to bed...

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

===

"Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear and no concept of the odds against them." … Robert Jarvik

===

Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au/ :-)

new ward

an hour or so with the grandson then we all head off to the clinic. deb drops me at the door then heads off to a play centre.

all on my own today and it does feel lonely.

i grab some biscuits, try to make some hot chocolate. the touch screen ignores my touch. typical. luckily another patient's wife is there to help. one touch and the machine springs to life.

today i'm in a different ward, acute care, i think it is. different part of the hospital. another patient on the other side of a curtain, he's here for a few more days. sounds of building work from nearby. another exciting adventure :-) 

deb and i exchange a few text messages. deb also -- accidentally -- phones. i hear sounds of playing in the background but they don't hear me.

i'm on the first hard dug drip. or the second? i don't watch so i lose track. another hour of this one still to go.

had a visit from the cancer doc's "personal touch person". something like that. her job is to make sure that i'm happy with the service. cheerful, outgoing, laughs easily, interested in me...feels totally false. i breathe a sigh of relief when she leaves, i can relax again.

lunch is, of course, "chef's choice". rather nice roast lamb.

i successfully connect to the hospital wifi so i may post this from here. and if there is not another post today -- then all is probably well :-)

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====    Dr Nick Lethbridge  /  Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
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"If It Ain't Broke, Break It" … Meat Loaf
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dying for you to read my blog: notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au :-)
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the minutes crawl by...

It's four am and I'm awake. I blame the Dex-effect. The minutes crawl by like stepped-on cockroaches. (I pinch that line from a book I read many, many years ago.) I may as well get up.

Get up and go for a walk. Just 30 minutes, there and back. Need to be home to get ready for an early start: grandson minding then I'll be dropped off for today's IV excitement.

Not quite 5am. The sun is not yet up but there are street lights, near enough to where I am walking. Birds are all silent and asleep. Sheet lightning to the north. (Well, smaller than sheets. Tea towel lightning, perhaps.) Behind thin clouds.

It's chilly outside. I settle into a brisk walk. No need for a sun hat, a wool hat would be nice.

Not yet 5:30, walking home again. Enough light to walk on the limestone path. Two or three cars. One other pedestrian, with dog. Sparrows are beginning to fart. (Or, in less poetic language, there are bird sounds across the lake, as birds wake up for the dawn.)

Home again. Time for breakfast.

Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper

...        Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved

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"Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear and no concept of the odds against them." … Robert Jarvik

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Dying for you to read my blog, at https://notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au/ :-)