Infusion day, and it was long and tedious.  Today’s appointment was 11:30, and we got there by 11:15.  At noon they hadn’t yet called me for vitals (weight, temperature, blood pressure, pulse) and the fingerprick.  (We could see that the room where they do those tests was very full, as was the reception area.)  They called me for vitals at about 12:15, but there wasn’t a chair free for the blood test for another fifteen minutes or so.

Then I saw the oncologist (Dr. S), who was wearing a tie with a pattern that he had chosen in my honor.  (Those of you who know me well will probably know what I mean, but if you don’t, that’s okay.)  He asked how I was feeling (pretty good, peppier the last couple of days, and eating a bit better), and examined me.  He was very pleased with the exam; he palpated my liver and said it was noticeably smaller, and we are hopeful that this is the drug at work.

I also asked whether he advised for or against travel, and he was enthusiastically for it.  He not only advised, he urged it, and pressed me to make whatever travel arrangements I could.  So I am looking at the timing of the infusions and the scan (so I can get an eval at Memorial Sloan Kettering), and thinking about the possibilities.

I said that, in the absence of word from them, I had assumed that my clotting time was still out of bounds for the protocol, and he confirmed it, and said they’d try one more time.  I don’t expect to pass this time either,  but if I do I’ll have a decision to make.   Anyhow, I waited a bit more for an infusion chair.  It was past time for me to eat something, and I’d brought food with me, but not enough.  They did the additional blood work expeditiously.  (I pointed out that the doctor wanted it, and the nurse asked me if I knew why, and I told her, also pointing out that she couldn’t use my port for the draw.)

By now it was nearly two, and then they had to send for my drug and verify that it was my drug and start the drip going.  All in all, we didn’t leave until 3:15 or later, which meant that we got to share the subway with school kids and shoppers.  I managed to wedge myself into a seat without too much trouble, and then we were home.

So that was today.  Long and tedious, but on the whole, extremely happy.  I have finished cycle I.