Chemo – cycle 2 Infusion 2

Note the change of how I’ve classified the sequence of events, no longer rounds but cycles and each event an infusion. This is just me being anal but it seems better like this so forgive me if it confuses you, the reader.

So today (Monday) Jane went for another Docetaxel infusion. Her appointment was at 3pm but she had to be there for 1pm to have her bloods taken to make sure she was fit for the process. We have lunch in the hospital whilst doing a crossword and then amble down to the Ingham Suite (Oncology), read our books and wait for 3 o’clock to come round. Don’t worry we are intelligent enough to know that when in hospital, time is not real and is totally illusory to everyone but not to the timepiece on my wrist. Jane gets called in at 4pm and of course the reception declares that it always run late – in my analytical mind I’m screaming “so if it always runs late why don’t you call us in an hour later” but of course if they did do that it would still run an hour late.

So Jane goes in and tells them at the outset not to wait to get her prescription for her steroids as the pharmacy gets busy later and her husband doesn’t take kindly to being asked at the last minute to run an errand. Yes, you’ve guessed it at just before 5pm a nurse comes out and asks me to get the steroids. She listens to my rant and then says they can’t get the prescription until the infusion has started – who says so? Who makes these rules? Particularly as two weeks ago they asked me to get two weeks worth of prescriptions, so the rule only applies when it suits – of course there is no rule it’s an excuse for inefficiency.

And so how is my darling wife, well she’s good, still got her hair if a little thinner and no doubt tomorrow her cheeks will be flushed. This will be followed by feeling sick and a metallic taste which puts her off eating. For those of a medical following her stats are as follows: Hb: 120; WBC 10.6; Plts 263 and Neuts 9.86. We think this is good but I’m sure others know more.