another cycle

sunday morning is orienteering, a sprint. deb claims difficulty following a detailed sprint map, i don't want to go too far, we go together. the course claims to be 2.5km, we walk 3km. and a very pleasant walk it is :-)

weather is fine and warm, the map area is both interesting and pleasant. we say hello to a few fellow orienteers and present our apologies for the agm. we are home for lunch.

sunday afternoon and evening i am feeling low. monday morning i am cursing inanimate objects. poor deb. i don't know how she puts up with me.

yes, today i start another five days of daily iv drugs.

once we are in the doctor's waiting room... i feel better. like a fun run -- i am nervy till i reach the start area. then i am committed -- and start to relax.

the doc says that my blood levels are back to normal, good. i have no new tingling in toes, still no tingling in fingers, all good. if the tingling increases then my body is not coping with the drugs, says the doc. if that happened then doses would be adjusted -- or chemo paused. better to get it done, i think.

if all goes well we may give you a third cycle, says the doc. i thought i was already down for three, i say. oh good, says the doc.

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across the corridor to the ivy clinic, for an 11am drip. i'm upstairs again, in a private room with a bed. just waiting on drugs to be delivered from pharmacy. meanwhile i eat "chef's choice" lunch and am plugged in to the iv pump. deb asks about fluid retention and ways to reduce it. tea, coffee and exercise, says the nurse.

12:30 and drugs arrive. deb has left me to it. it takes a while to get the drip flowing freely. too close to a valve in the vein, says the nurse. she pulls the needle back a bit. i curl my hand slightly to hold the needle back. all good.

time to ... just lie here. it's a tough life :-)

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i'm careful to not twitch my hand. keep it relaxed and slightly curled. otherwise the drip will be blocked and the pump will switch off.

highlight of the afternoon so far: i go to the toilet and get back to bed -- without turning the pump off :-)

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almost 3pm, the iv pump is beeping. i hope that means that this bag is empty. the drip bag -- with its deadly drugs -- is inside an opaque red bag, i can't see the level.

btw: when i'm on iv my arm rests on an absorbent liner. not -- i have now been told -- not to catch my blood if the iv pops out. the liner is to catch possible leaks of my drugs. not blood. and that is a surprising weight off my mind.

now for a 3 minute saline flush, clearing drugs from the pump and tubes. then just 15 minutes of the final drug. as good as done :-)

any final chaos can wait for a separate post... meanwhile... assume a fine day's treatment.

====    Dr Nick Lethbridge  /  Consulting Dexitroboper
Agamedes Consulting / Problems? Solved.
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"I think and think, for months, for years. Ninety-nine times the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right." … Einstein
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dying for you to read my blog: notdotdeaddotyet.blogspot.com.au :-)
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