Aug 08, so this is chemo...

one of my orchids, greeting the coming Spring, symbolizing (for me) hope, life and beauty

Today dawns sunny and windy, as if to blow my thoughts away. No such luck unfortunately. I'm scared of what the day might bring. It dawns on me, ever since I first became unwell, the day after Grand Final 2023 (and sadly, it wasn't due to excessive celebrations) today is the first day I am getting some actual treatment! Lots of tests, oh my goodness, up to pussy's bow in tests, fat lot of good they all did, but no actual treatment - until now. 

I sit in the waiting area on the 4th floor at Cabrini. Its quite high and an unobstructed view to the south horizon. I can see hills in the distance, due south. Huh? I figure out from google maps I am probably looking at Mt Martha and behind that at Arthur's Seat, they are exactly south of my current position. It brought back memories of the old chairlift at Arthur's Seat, we used to go during the summer when I was a teen. That old chairlift was such a wonder, an OHS disaster of course, essentially a swing seat with a bar. Wind in your hair, bumping along as the seat traversed the pylons, curling your toes so your thongs didn't fall onto the cars winding along the road below. And the view! They were the days...I was brought back to the present by the nurse calling my name

I was in pod 31 today. Its a big chemo ward! Recliner (no rocking or vibrating function - I looked) Apparently you can absorb these chemicals through the skin, so the nurses gowned up to connect me up, much like we do with the isolation patients (but they had a cool blue, not the putrid yellow gowns we have at work) Which explains all the toileting precautions they went through with me yesterday on the phone. They put the drip in the back of my hand "we have to conserve the higher up veins for future use'' oh, I see. Flush, bolus premed (dexamethasone + antinauseant I didn't catch the name of) then infusion 1, flush, infusion 2, (which stung- so much I was rubbing my wrist to help with the pain - the nurses watching me like a hawk - worried about allergic reaction, "are you scratching?" "No" I reply meekly...) More flushing after it had gone through. The whole thing took about 2 hours. 

Luckily they had given me a whole truckload of pamphlets from the anti-cancer council which helped me pass the time. What caught my attention was the dietary restrictions - because of the white cell count drop, not being able to fight bacteria, I was not to eat deli meats (turkey, ham etc) or soft cheeses, including feta. Wait, what? No Feta? I'm a wog for crying out loud, you may as well deny me air!!! Thank goodness olives weren't on the banned list, I may have pulled the drip out and stormed out. How am i going to get through the next 3 months on pecorino alone? Woe is me... 

So, I am home now, despite my mum's protests that I should stay with them. I feel Ok. It's only been a few hours and I am waiting to hit the wall. I even ate! We'll see what the night and tomorrow bring. It might be prudent to sleep with a bucket by my bed...