A Little Woozy

We just returned from our full day at NIH. It's an absolutely beautiful day here with warm sunshine and low clouds and traffic is still fairly light because of the holiday week. The gate guard made sure to ask about my CT scan results since I told her yesterday I would be finding them out. She was super excited for me and proud of me too. She's always been really nice and friendly and I look forward to seeing her each time (I wish the CT technicians were as nice as the gate guard!)

I met up with the old EPOCH gang in special procedures at 7:30am. All of our orders were lost in the computer so we all had to wait until they found them. Bob was the first guy called back for his procedure. I've seen Bob before but hadn't met him officially. He doesn't carry around a nice small fanny pack like Steve and I do, he has something that looks like a briefcase that he has to carry around because he has twice as much chemo as we do. Steve's tumor has also shrunk from 10cm to 4cm so we were both congratulating each other on our successes. Steve was next for his procedure and I had to wait until they finished up with either Bob or Steve because they only have two rooms. I had the same doctor as last time, but I remember her voice more than her face! She had some trouble putting in my line because of where it goes in my chest/neck area and because I'm so small-boned. Thankfully I was relatively calm because of all the ativan I had taken this morning and the lydocane they use to numb the site. It was a little difficult lying there on the bed listening to them discuss me, "Push it in. Stop. Back out. Okay, push it in again. Give me a different gauge line, please." I couldn't see anything because they draped a sheet over my face, but I can hear muffled discussion. The ativan keeps me from freaking out and being tired also keeps me from freaking out too. They finally got it to go in and I was done at 11am.

Mike loaded up my wheelchair with my very large file, my day bag containing socks, crossword puzzles, and book, and wheeled me up to the day hospital for my first dose of chemo meds. I ordered lunch and as soon as I ate, was quickly asleep. Mike watched tennis and did his crossword puzzle while he watched me doze in my chair. We finally finished the rituxin chemo med and they loaded up my fanny pack with the chemo colada cocktail. We left for home, but had to stop in "wait here until you die or your prescription is ready, whichever comes first" pharmacy. I have huge shopping bag of drugs, including two new antibiotics that I start next week to stop the skitters. I bought an am/pm pillbox several weeks ago so I can fit in with the senior set quite well. We can compare meds!

I'm back at home deciding whether to have some apple pie or take a nap - or both! Mike just left with Eric to go sell Eric's boat in Gettysburg and won't be back for a while. I've got plenty of time for apple pie tasting and a nap! I've also got German chocolate cake calling my name. I'm sure I'll eat both before the day's over - I need the calories since I now weigh 126.

Naptime is truly calling, but first PIE!