Chemo intake II

Finally was able to start chemo again today after the two and a half weeks off with the anitbiotics from the staph infection. It was my first time receiving chemo at the oncology office - it took forever (I was there from 9-4, mostly just lots of people). It went really smoothly and the bulk of the process was the Dacarbazine which was in a drip that took two hours. I felt alright through most of the process, I think I was tired…more than anything.

One of the weird things about living in Florida that I think a lot of the country fails to appreciate is that no matter where you are in Florida, when the space shuttle takes off, you can see it in the sky. I had a really satisfying experience with the last shuttle launch a few months ago, it took off at night and I stood on my driveway watching the orange trail off into space and the rocket boosters fall off into the ocean. Apparently today was another such fortunate and probably the most fulfilling of my experiences with this. The television in the infusion room was set on the Fox News Channel and they were building up all morning/afternoon about the launch. As soon as it struck 2:00 one of the nurses jumped from behind to desk to sit on the floor in front of the television set and watch the launch, as she is apparently a HUGE fan of these things. My chair was facing the television and the window, which was luckily facing East so I was able to simultaneously for the first time in my life, watch the shuttle launch on television and in the sky. Something about sharing that experience with people who were possibly teriminal and may never see something so spectacular for the rest of their lives was also very fulfilling as well as bittersweet, sort of weird.

The wi-fi in the office wasn’t working, so I had to settle for movies and documentaries that I have on my computer. I opted to finish watching the last hour of the first part of Ken Burns’ Baseball and then get most of the way through Le Samouraï before it was time to leave.



That’s sort of uh, the gist of what chemo in an oncologists office is like, too. Older people in chairs looking at you funny, covered in blankets, sleeping. We also had crackers, cookies, and juice - of which I partook of one of all three.

I came home and within the second hour of being here instantly got nauseas at one point, managed to get a Zofran in me and in about five minutes was feeling certain brain receptors being blocked and felt a lot better.

I have to have neupogen shots for the next 10 days, which I’m not exactly thrilled about but I am going to have a really really awesome Friday-Tuesday no matter what. School also starts Tuesday, I feel ridiculous and a little overwhelmed, because I haven’t finished last semesters work because of all of this. Soon, though. Soon.

I need to sleep, I’m really hoping that I don’t feel like too much shit tomorrow, that’s not very relevant to my interests, at all.  Though, I’m sure tomorrow and Wednesday will be tough and shitty.