First Day of Chemo update, including a Curious George reference instead of Shakespeare
Well, it's been over 48 hours since the first infusion, and I feel just fine. Next week I'm bringing handpuppets, though.
There are five chemo rooms, and they each have six recliners or beds lined up on the walls, three per side. It's a setup just like in Curious George Goes to the Hospital, when he swallows the puzzle piece, but of course he's in the children's ward.
There was even a grumpy patient who got testy with the nurse when the nurse opened her package of crackers for her.
"Don't open it," she said condescendingly, as if opening the crackers was soooo inconsiderate. And after the nurse left, she kept complaining under her breath.
George's friend Betsy is grumpy in the hospital, too, and only cracks a smile when he performs a puppet show using both hands and feet. And then Betsy finally laughs when George races down the ramp in Billy's wheelchair, and crashes into the Mayor.
I didn't have any puppets with me, and I couldn't convince the guy in the next bed to lend me his wheelchair, so the cracker lady's probably still grumpy.
The procedure is thus: they do a blood test first, then I go check in and wait for an empty chemo chair or bed. Once I'm settled in a chair, they take the drug out of the freezer and it thaws for an hour. So I'll just sit there for an hour every week. But they're not allowed to pull it out until I'm actually in the chemo chair.
They give me Benadryl during that hour. And the dose is pretty low on the Benadryl, so I didn't feel very woozy this time. At least not any more woozy than I feel normally. Susan did beat me three out of four games of gin rummy, so that was probably the Benadryl.
So then they shoot me up for a half hour and then take a few more vials of blood, and we're done for the day. It was less than three hours from start to finish. Yesterday I went in and they took some more vials. And that's it for the week.
Through online listservs, I've been in touch with other patients in this trial study, and they report a few more side effects, so we'll see if they pick up. Right now I just have a few mouth sores. And I can deal with that.
As long as I can still make funny puppet voices for the cracker lady.
There are five chemo rooms, and they each have six recliners or beds lined up on the walls, three per side. It's a setup just like in Curious George Goes to the Hospital, when he swallows the puzzle piece, but of course he's in the children's ward.
There was even a grumpy patient who got testy with the nurse when the nurse opened her package of crackers for her.
"Don't open it," she said condescendingly, as if opening the crackers was soooo inconsiderate. And after the nurse left, she kept complaining under her breath.
George's friend Betsy is grumpy in the hospital, too, and only cracks a smile when he performs a puppet show using both hands and feet. And then Betsy finally laughs when George races down the ramp in Billy's wheelchair, and crashes into the Mayor.
I didn't have any puppets with me, and I couldn't convince the guy in the next bed to lend me his wheelchair, so the cracker lady's probably still grumpy.
The procedure is thus: they do a blood test first, then I go check in and wait for an empty chemo chair or bed. Once I'm settled in a chair, they take the drug out of the freezer and it thaws for an hour. So I'll just sit there for an hour every week. But they're not allowed to pull it out until I'm actually in the chemo chair.
They give me Benadryl during that hour. And the dose is pretty low on the Benadryl, so I didn't feel very woozy this time. At least not any more woozy than I feel normally. Susan did beat me three out of four games of gin rummy, so that was probably the Benadryl.
So then they shoot me up for a half hour and then take a few more vials of blood, and we're done for the day. It was less than three hours from start to finish. Yesterday I went in and they took some more vials. And that's it for the week.
Through online listservs, I've been in touch with other patients in this trial study, and they report a few more side effects, so we'll see if they pick up. Right now I just have a few mouth sores. And I can deal with that.
As long as I can still make funny puppet voices for the cracker lady.
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