An endless day

Yesterday was pretty much an unmitigated disaster. We arrived at Sloan at 8 for my bloodwork -- no visit with the doctor or nurse scheduled. My blood draw was complete by 8:30, and we settled down on the couch in the lobby expecting our usual two to two and a half hour wait. When nothing was happening by 11:05, I went into the chemo suite to get an update. Imagine my surprise when I was told that the pharmacy had been waiting for the results of my triglycerides and had only just starting mixing the drugs. The receptionist claimed she had told them to put a rush on it, and hopefully it would only be another half hour. A few minutes later, Dr. K's assistant came out to tell us about the hold up and that she and the nurse had been calling to get things moving because the results of that test were not necessary to mix the drugs. A manager came to see me to apologize for the delay and promised to send a patient rep to see me in chemo. At 12:30, I was finally called into chemo. It turns out that the nurse had ordered another iron infusion for me, so that added 15 minutes to the typical three hour infusion. Having arrived at Sloan at 8:00, we finally pulled out of the parking deck to head home at 4:00.

When we arrived home at 5:35, I headed upstairs to hit the sack. When Ed suggested that I at least have a small bowl of cereal before going to bed, I literally sat down on the stairs and sobbed. I had reached the end of my endurance for the day. Once I recovered, I stayed up long enough to eat a yogurt, but I did it in bed in my pjs. Unfortunately, every time I fell asleep I would wake up having to cough. That went on until 9:00. It was not a good day or night. Today I'm exhausted so it will be an early night for me again. On the other hand, when is it not an early night for me??

My cholesterol is down to 213 -- still high but low enough that I'm taking a break from the Zetia. As I have written before, I think it is a contributing factor to my weight loss, so with any luck I'll gain something back while I'm off of it. My triglycerides are very good, so I'm not worried about that. I found out the reason for the iron infusion: my hemoglobin is down to 9.3 (they usually don't let you do chemo if your hemoglobin is below 10). No wonder I've been extra tired, and no wonder I had the meltdown last night. I hope the iron picks me up a bit. I'd love to get back outside to do more weeding this weekend. It's supposed to be lovely.

I have to go see the dermatologist again today as my finger infections have not improved. In fact, I think I'm getting a hangnail on another finger, which will likely result in another infection. His office called in an order for an antibiotic yesterday, which I didn't pick up on the way home. I'm hesitant to take my third drug for this infection (my fifth if you count the two antibiotics I had to take for the vaginal bacterial infection in late February/early March), but I'm not certain that it's going to clear up otherwise. I'll report more tomorrow.

I have chemo again next Tuesday after I see Dr. K. (I have a feeling the pharmacy will be watched like a hawk for a while.) On Thursday, May 6, I have my brain MRI and then I see the radiation oncologist for my six month follow up. Afterward, I see the nutritionist to discuss my progress, if any. Another busy day of seeing doctors. Don't you wish you were me?

It was only 40 degrees when I arrived in the city this morning, but it's supposed to reach 75 by the weekend. I'm supposed to go see Mom on Saturday, although it's going to be the better day of the weekend. I still have a lot of weeding to do, so I'll be out there Sunday if it's not raining -- or maybe between any raindrops. I hope your weather is lovely, too.