Round Four

The day began with a slight headache and a bit of nausea. I rationalized that once I arrived at the infusion center, they would be giving me something for both things, so I didn't take anything before leaving home. As we pulled up to the front entrance, Kiel asked if I had brought my symptom list. I looked at him quizzically since I didn't know he had seen my running dialogue of kavetching. Apparently I had left it on top of my notebook and he had perused it. "I had no idea you felt so awful all the time. I'm sorry," he explained. I smiled. "It's not all the time."

The day didn't improve when I showed up for a port draw and they couldn't seem to get the port to work properly. Saline flush went in, blood refused to come out. I figured they had tapped me dry, but the nurse said if they couldn't clear it, I might not get the chemo. We went through all sorts of contortions as they kept pumping the flush in. Hold your right arm up over your head. Turn your head as far to the left as you can. Cough as deep as you can. Stand up. Tilt forward. Lie down. Put your feet up. Breathe deeply. Nothing was working. They called in a second nurse. We went through the whole drill again. Nada.

Finally, she took out the IV stick and redid the insert. Before I time to utter a prayer, we got red! Thank you God I breathed just as Baiba peeked around the corner and delivered a well needed hug and good wishes before she headed home after a long night of demanding chaplaincy.

The doctor looked at my litany of gripes and said, "These are all to be expected rather mild reactions. You are doing very well. Everything looks good here." We had a productive conversation about preventive measures to deal with some of the discomforts, next steps and some solutions to deal with my concerns about iodine allergies before I returned to the infusion center to start the drill. BONUS!!! This is the last time of the 6 chemo infusions that I will be given the Rituxan! Yeah!!! That's the one that takes 6 hours and I have the hardest time tolerating.

I had just gone through the drill of premeds, saline flush, and hook up to Rituxan when my personal chef, caterer and good friend Diane arrived with lunch! She had volunteered after the dismal experience of last time when I ordered the cottage cheese fruit plate and got two small containers, one a fruit cocktail cup and one of cottage cheese.

Boy, howdy, she pulled out all the stops! First a gorgeous bouquet of flowers - cheerful daylilies, daisies, choreopsis, Russian sage - so cheery and bright it was like bringing sunshine into the space. Then a candle! One of those battery flamed units in a reflecting glass. Great mood lighting. Real blue floral china and silver with matching blue napkins flew magically out of her carrying satchel, followed by a delightful repast of grilled veggies, barbecued chicken breast, pickled beets and the piece de resistance, chocolate pudding for dessert - make with real whip cream and topped with squirted on whip cream from a can!

What a great lunch. I sure needed the cheering up and it was just the ticket! Our conversation brought a window on the outside world that I cherished. Her daughter just returned from a mission trip to the Dominican Republic, and I listened as Diane told of the poverty and hunger that was rampant there. It's actually better to be an orphan because they are better provided for than the people who live in town. How sad that is.

We talked of music and church activities and VBS and all kinds of things going on in the great wide world beyond the four walls of my tiny apartment. And of alternative things that might help defeat cancer - diet especially. Meat and sugar are not recommended, which made us laugh since we had just consumed copious quantities of both!

I left at 7pm, nauseous and tired but encouraged, both by the catered lunch and conversations, and the fact the there will be no Rituxan for the next round, and the further investigation into the Bexxar risks. All in all, a good day. AND I have to say how happy I am that all this is happening in the summer and not the bleakness of winter. I can't imagine how difficult it would be to keep my spirits up with bare tree branches and snow covered roads.