The Cycle 9 Chemotherapy Liveblog

Today is Cycle 9, assuming my oncologist doesn't change things up.

It might also be more entertaining than usual as there's a nurse being trained to work the infusion clinic, so I'm getting a lot more narration about what's going on than is typical. So far, I've learned all about how they manage the "sterile field" when they're inserting the line into my chest port. I've also learned what steps in the protocol annoy the nurses like, for example, the requirement to scrub the site for thirty seconds when sterility is established after fifteen. 

I'm hoping the trainee will be around for the rest of this adventure so I can hear more. It's interesting as a patient to get a glimpse of the clinic's backroom operations. They're usually pretty good about hiding that, I think. 

But for now I'm waiting for the lab results so I can meet with the oncologist to get clearance for the chemo, or not. 

8:22 am

Lines in, blood drawn, sitting in the waiting room...

8:31 am

Checked in for the doctor's visit. I've gained four pounds since my last weigh in. Today's scale has me at 218. Must be all the eggnog lattes I've been drinking. Now waiting for the doc, who just walked into the patient's room across the hall so I suspect it'll be a few minutes. 

8:58 am
Well, nevermind. My white blood cell count is too low to give me the chemotherapy drugs so today's cycle has been cancelled. And while I had the option to come in next week, chemotherapy the day before Thanksgiving sounds terrible. So I get a two week break -- and the total cycle count may have just dropped to ten. We'll see.

But for now the liveblog is over. Lacking anything better to do, I guess I'll go to work.