July 13th Monday Start of round three

It was early this morning 2am when we heard from Cate, who was still up at that time. She had moved in all her belongings and was in her room trying to get it all together before 6am when she would have to get up for her first day at work. Sharon called her at 6am, as she had been asked to do, and Cate in fact was awake. We then proceeded to the Dr's office for my appointment. We arrived at 7:45 and just about then we had a picture call from Cate showing us the outfit she had chosen to ware her first day. We have heard nothing since.

The drama started with Sharon and I about twenty minutes later. Dr Adamhi was not in today so we were to meet with Sue, his physicians assistant. First I had to have my port hooded up and some blood drawn. Mary Beth was the nurse that did the port today. She always looks like she just got up or should be going to bed. She did get the port inserted correctly, however she didn't log it in, so we had to sit outside in the lobby until they finally realized I had been hooked up and I could go see Sue. One nice thing was we could understand her better. We had some issues with what was going to happen at the end of cycle three. In reading the file it was entirely different than anything I had been doing. It said I was to get my heart muggin and MRI before my third round. Her comment was: "well I guess that didn't happen". We then discussed the problem about the appointment we were to have with Dr. Rushing. They had scheduled it for after the fourth round and we were sure it was to be after the third round. We also thought he said to have an MRI after the third round but his notes said a scan. We have now received a new appointment for Dr. Rushing and we now need to find out if he wants an RMI or a scan. The other thing that needs to be done is a prescription for two pills that I take the second and third days of the round.

After talking to Sue, who was a very pleasant lady, and has a mother who is resisting going into an assisted living complex, she said she would figure out what needed to be done and get back to us sometime this week.

The chemo started at 9am which was actually very fast considering the waiting room was completely full by the time I got finished talking to Sue. There are four different medications that they give me the first day of chemo. They give me a large bag of a saline solution to start and then a medication to help with nausea and vomiting. Then they give me a small bag of something that goes before the actual chemo. After all that, they give me this red syrupy junk that is actually forced into my port. It takes 20 minutes to pump it in and it makes my eyes go crazy. They burn and I sneeze and have to close my eyes. The other side effect is you can't go in the sun for 48 hours after getting it. You also get a great red colored urine for the first two events.

Doesn't this sound like a kick? This being the third round I'm getting used to it, that doesn't mean I like it, or it gets better, but I do know what parts I'm not going to enjoy. They did take my blood pressure and it was 122/60 which is good for an old fart like me. It had been 148/86 on my first go around. My BS was 155 today so that's about normal also. We'll see where it ends up after all this medication. I'm guessing around 185 or so tomorrow.

At 11am all my medication was in my body and we could leave. We went to get bread for the Essen House and then to the Kroger to get my pills. At noon we showed up at Kroger and no one could find the prescription. They said I was to order it first before I just came by. One of the ladies wanted to argue with me as to what was said last Wed. I know for a fact Tran said I could pick it up any time after Thursday. She said she heard him say I had to call first. Well as it turns out the prescription was never ordered. I went back at 3:30 and they still had not heard from the Dr's office. I then told them that they need to ask for Sue, since she was the person that I talked to and Adamhi was not at the office. It's now 4:25 and still no word. So eventful it has been. And don't forget my saying "They practice medicine, and if you let them, they will practice on you". Larry: as I told you yesterday about your shoulder, take notes and write everything down. Also watch those pain pill, they make you feel great until it's time to get rid of them. You don't need any brown golf balls. You can't hit them straight now anyway.

I came home about 12:45 and fell asleep until about 3pm. I'm back to no energy and not wanting to do a damn thing other than sit and watch TV or type this damn blog. I'm not real fond of doing this right now, but there was a lot to note about the days events.

Please pray for me so I get through this with no complications. Love to all.
Tom