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And there was the treatment. Blood work was quick & relatively painless. (+) There was no fishing in my arm for a vein. (+) When it came time for chemo, they found a good vein (+) or did they? (-) By the third drug, Dacarbazine, my veins had had enough. My arm was cold to the touch, but the sensation was that of fire. (-) They slowed the drip rate down 3x, but it still hurt. (-) To make matters worse, I had to have an anti-emetic after the chemo. (-) They are out of the pill form of the usual anti-emetic I take, but they have the syrup. I took the syrup the last time & it was brutal on my teeth. Needless to say, I was tired & grumpy by the end of the session.
Thankfully the Nurses were AWESOME as usual. Mom2 & I had been talking about the hospital a few days before & she thought I was absolutely mental when I said I looked forward to visiting with the Nurses & how friendly & nice everyone was. Only now did she understand my thoughts! We enjoyed visiting with the girls & I even showed them Jaco & I's wedding photos from Namibia (which Mario just won another award with us in his portfolio!). It was priceless, as one of the Nurses was convinced that Jaco's profile looks exactly like Dr. Lategan & she found it her sole purpose that day to convince all the other Nurses to come & have a look at the profile. Her enthusiasm was infectious. (About the only infectious thing you'd want to pick up in a treatment room!) :o) We were all in stitches every time she would call another Nurse over to have a look.
I was excited to see that the Beautiful Sam was in the treatment room again. She makes my day. We enjoyed visiting about our dogs & I'm hoping she'll bring them out for a run on the ranch before the snow falls!
Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever imagined that I would meet so many wonderful people while taking chemo treatments. I was the girl who was strictly opposed to any sort of Western Medicine intervention. I thought it was all one big pharmaceutical push & the Doctors were pretty much robots who were trained to have textbook answers for all the questions. Who would have thought I would ever meet Doctors & Nurses with *GASP* personalities!? I feel like I have another family & I still have 9 more rounds to go! I realize they see a lot of people come & go, but they have made this part of my journey absolutely enjoyable & I can't say enough how much I appreciate that. Hmm, they did mention something about coffee & chocolate... :o)
Of course, Mom had to stop at Costco. I shouldn't have gone in, but I did. Just stay in the car, Jill! But no. I was hungry & enjoyed the Caesar salad sample, so at least that made it worthwhile! Mom2 found another wok & Mom picked up her fruit fix for the week.
We drove to Mom2's where she made me a delish turkey bun & then it was home time. I crashed on the way home (as in sleep - Mom was driving) & did my best to sleep off the effects of the drugs.
Tonight was Valentina's last night in the big bed. Tomorrow she graduates to the Big Girl Bed when Papa gets here... Not long to go now! Can't wait!
xxxxx
Maria & Valentina
Oh where oh where is my Mexican Hot Pack?
Heating my veins for the poison
Iny saying, 'There, there! You see! It's Dr. Lategan!'
'Don't you think so!? It's him!'
'Her husband looks just like Dr. Lategan!'
Mom2 & I
Mom & I
A Rose between 2 Tulips (Dr. Daly & his two 'Favourite' patients - I'm recruiting to make it a family affair!) :o)
