Well, it was like this......
Pete, my brother in law is great, (so is his wife, Dot).
Anyway, as I was saying before I rudely interrupted myself.....
Pete, my brother in law agreed to take me to the hospital at short notice, (If you remember, I was asked not to drive myself).
I had to be there at 08.30. The hospital isn't far, Pete arrived at 08.00, in his big white van!
I had packed by bag with:-
lap top, Nintendo DS, books, tissues, fruit jellies, nettle and peppermint tea, my mobile phone, slippers,- (lilac fluffy bootie things) and magazines, (thanks Doreen).
Went out yesterday and bought a bag especially to put it all in, Ooooo, a lovely pillar box red!
Me and my husband jumped in and
Vroom, we were off!
08.15, the van stops dead!
Ran out of diesel! Ooooooooops.
Called a cab, arrived at the hospital at 08.29.! Phew!
I was asked to wait in the waiting room. Whilst there, I phoned Pete to make sure that he was OK,
which he was, thankfully, diesel on the way!
I was called through to 'start'.
Derek, (my husband), called Pete to ask if he could pick him up.
Derek left.
I have to say before we start, that the staff are fab!
They run around like little 'blue a*sed flies'.
In fact it reminded me of Arthur Askey and 'The Busy Bee Song".
Tra la la.................
Oh, what a wonderful thing to be,
A healthy grown up busy busy bee;
Whiling away all the passing hours
Pinching all the pollen from the cauliflowers.
I'd like to be a busy little bee,
Being as busy as a bee can be.
Flying around the garden brightest ever seen,
Taking back the honey to the dear old queen.
(Chorus): Bz bz bz bz, honey bee, honey bee,
Bz if you like but don't sting me,
Bz bz bz bz, honey bee, honey bee,
Buzz if you like, but don't sting me
Off on a tangent again!
I don't care Lol!
OK.....
I was led in to a 'bay' with 8 or nine recliner chairs, each place had the gismo that holds the bags of stuff to be 'dripped' in to you. Each chair had one of those little fold away TV dinner tables, you know, the ones that Dunelms sell.
Oooooo Hooooooo! Dunelms, any sales due to this blog, bung the commission this way!!!! Lol!!!
I had the pick of the positions because I was first there, - tell a lie, there was a man before me, he and his wife were ensconcing themselves in their chosen spot.
I picked my place based on practicalities...nearest the loo!
The nurse came and sat with me to explain the days 'agenda' and made sure that I was who I was, and not someone else!
You know, the usual................. address, DOB and that stuff!
I think that this is a good idea, Uurgh, just think of the possible consequences, I can't even go there!!!!!
And....
I can't plug anything in and there is no internet, that is computer redundant.
Can't take or make phone calls on mobile, can text though.
Best veins in my right hand, and I am right handed, My right hand is attached to the gismo, movement is limited! Ho Hum!!!!
Anyway, I am me - established!
I took the opportunity of going to the loo before I was 'joined' to the apparatus and wall.
Job done, I tried to flush it, saw this hole that looked as it the 'flush button' was once housed there, to see it not there.
I explained to the staff that I was unable to lush as it appears to be broken.
I saw the staff go in to investigate, and I saw them look towards me and gesture that all was well.
'That was quick!' I thought.
The next time that I went to the loo, I noticed the hole was still there?
The next thing I noticed was a whacking great flush handle on the wall that was working!
Had a little look at my veins, well 'Sod's Law' decrees that mine a very small, hunt out a smaller needle.
Warm up the veins to keep them open and receptive.
Used those wheat germ bags, microwaved, what a great sensation.
All snuggly wuggly! Lol
Needle and cannula in - all stuck down with Teddy Bear Plasters! All together now.....
Aaaaaahhh.
Tried to get a picture of them to post, but I had to contort into such 'challenging positions' to get the right shot, it was impossible to do this surreptitiously and I was attracting a bit of an audience, so I aborted that mission!
As all this was going on, the rest of the chairs received their occupants.
The time they received treatment varied,
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 hours.
I was last out.
Anyway, the other patients and their visitors were great, all very brave and positive souls. They were all at different stages on their chemo. Right from full heads of hair, bushy, long short to bald as a ...as a.........????
Whatever or whoever the baldest animal or person that you know is!
Can't think, let's hope that is a side effect of the chemo and not the side effect of getting older! Lol.
Lots of different bags were put up and 'infused'.
I will try to remember the order. (Fat chance if I can't remember bald as a ????)
But I will try.
- Saline
- Clear out stuff (About 5 mins)
- Anti-sick stuff
- Clear out
- 1st chemo drug
- Clear out
- Saline
- Clear out
- Ant-sick
- 2nd chemo drug
- clear out
There was another thing, sucrose or some such other thicker stuff some where along the line. Thick and sticky! I think that it was before 1st chemo and clear out.
This was the only thing that I had a reaction to..............yep, you guessed, one of very few people and very unexpected!
Made me feel 'weird' and sent my arm really funny.
Well spotted by staff and sorted in the shake of a lambs tail!
I had loads of my nettle and peppermint tea through out the day. I did offer it around, but I had no takers.
I am glad that I took it, because I had a few bouts of heart burn, the peppermint did the trick!
Lunch was served, I had a ham and tomato sandwich, anti-sick capsule, chocolate....a patient who had been going for a while brought some for all of the patients, one piece per bay. Received with thanks, what a lovely thought!
I was given 2 types of anti-sick tabs to take home. 1 type to be taken tomorrow only, another to be taken as and when required, not to exceed 8 a day. I believe that these are of the steroid type.
I was given more of one of the chemo meds that had been infused, to be taken over the next 2 days.
Any side effects should present themselves within the next 7-14 days.
This how long the chemo takes to make an impression on the fast growing cells in the body.
(I think that one of the side effects is making your balls drop! My voice is so low today, I reckon I could start a new business - Rent a dirty Phone Call) Lol!
The whole experience was not as bad as I was expecting.
I arrived home at 18.10.
I was tired, a bit wobbly on my legs, but well, with a whooping yen for a chinese!
Ordered my crispy duck and pancakes. Yummy scrummy!
Sadly, I couldn't eat it all.
Dougal, my dog, well, more of an aspiring dog, he is fully grown, and could just about give a guinea pig a run for his money! Lol!
Anyway.......... he loves me, 'cos he got to eat it!
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