Yes, this is what we have resorted to--doctor days are date days. These are the days in which Elt and I get some time to ourselves, a chance to have a quiet lunch, and then find different ways to kill time. Usually, there are two appointments in one day--a blood test which only takes about 10 minutes and then a two hour wait before seeing the doctor. Yesterday was my chemo day and I had an additional blood test two hours prior to the chemo to make sure my blood counts were high enough to continue with the treatment. Luckily, I got a pass and things went on as planned. Otherwise, I would've had to wait another week!
Our usual spots for lunch have been mostly of the asian variety. There's the Great Wall for shanghai dumplings and noodles, Tropika for deep fried tofu and seafood fried rice, and our favourite of all, iCafe. We like iCafe the best because it's only a block down from the cancer agency and they give you free parking in their garage (a secret only known to regular customers like Elt's mom). After getting ripped off for parking underground for many visits earlier on, we finally found out street parking was actually a lot cheaper (or Elt just waiting in the car until my blood work was done and not pay meter at all!). Well, now we just conveniently leave our car in the iCafe lot even after lunch and sneak back in when chemo's over, hehe. What else do we do to waste 2 hours? Well, there's London Drugs, Artigiano, Whole Foods, ToysRUs and of course Home Sense which we've been quite often!
Once we arrive at the chemo room, we are greeted by a friendly nurse who acts a little like a flight attendant. She tries to get you as comfy as possible by warming up your veins with a hot wet towel and a warm blanket. Then she even offers a variety of drinks--juice, pop, water. Volunteers visit with free coffee, tea, or books. If you are really lucky, there's a friendly face in the room and you can chat with them to let the time pass. Yesterday, we met a woman who just came back from Palm Springs and was sharing her traveling experience.
Before any i.v. bag gets hooked up, they always verify your birthdate and name. It gets announced to the rest of the room and I am usually a little coy about it since I am always the youngest one there. You always hear birth years like 35 and 46, and here I am at 76. The one thing I can't stop paying attention to is the size of people's files. My friend pointed this out to me once and now I can't help but notice! The nurse lays them out on the counter in the order of arrival so she doesn't get mixed up with her notes. Mine is always the thinnest (thank god) but yesterday, both ladies had quite large files and I know that one of them had a recurrence.
The other thing you notice in the chemo room are the different types of chemo that everyone gets. There are so many treatments and types of cancer that I've never encountered anyone on exactly the same thing as me. One time I saw a woman who needed to be on a stretcher and rotated every 15 minutes. The woman next to me yesterday only had chemo for 10 minutes. By the time the nurse explained the side effects, she was done! My chemo requires me to wear these oven mitts that have been stored in the freezer. The cold gloves have to be worn 15 minutes before the chemo, during the chemo, and then another 15 minutes afterwards. It's supposed to minimize the circulation of the blood in the your fingernails to prevent discolouring or brittleness. My response to that was, "What about my toenails?!" Well, they don't protect your feet for hygienic reasons--go figure! Who needs their toenails anyway, right?
I am on my second day post-chemo and I already had to cook my own breakfast this morning as well as help make dinner! The VIP service is definitely dwindling around here. At least I still have a good supply of blueberry muffins due to a muffin fairy that keeps our supplies up! Just feel a little fatigue but the other side effects are combatted with meds and frequent mouth washing.
I found out that after my last chemo next month, I will have a 4 week rest and then have 5 1/2 weeks of daily radiation (no weekends). Aftter that, I will get another 4 week break and then will have surgery and reconstruction simultaneously. So, I'm just approaching the half way mark at this time but I am looking forward to not having chemo anymore because there's a lot of work that goes along with it--long waiting times for appointments, injections, and meds.
Aidan just turned the big 5 last week and Liam has finally taken his first steps. Time passes by so quickly you really have to appreciate it all!
Love, J
