Catching up-- part 1

I now have two chemotherapy treatments under my belt. The first was October 9th and the second was this past Friday, the 23rd.

My how things have changed in the past 23 years!! It's still personal treatment, but it's much more like going to the hair salon.

I had such an aggressive cancer last time around that my treatment was also aggressive. The drug regimen is still the preferred treatment today. The difference is that the coping drugs to combat the nausea didn't exist back then. I had the option of being treated in the hospital as an in-patient. Since Mari (my sister) is a nurse and we were staying with friends where the wife was an ER nurse with a masters' degree in nursing, we all were comfortable with the care I would be receiving outside of his office. So, I went to his office for chemo.

Perhaps I should also say that Dr. Johnson had been the head of the Gynecological Oncology Department at the University of Utah Medical School and had only been in private practice for a couple of years. He was very good at his job and extremely personable.

When I arrived at his office, he was the one who poked me to get the IV set up-- but it was a kind of needle that I would keep for the first 8 days of treatment. Now they do a "pic" line inserted near the clavicle, but then it was on the inside of my wrist. That made it awkward, particularly since I'm right-handed and the needle was always in the right wrist. Mari would have to clear it every evening with Heparin to make sure that it wouldn't clot over-- and that stung!

At the beginning of the week, it might take 4-6 hours before I was able to leave the office. But, as treatment continued, my veins would get tired, so that by the end of the week and with each successive round of treatment, I was often in the office 8-9 hours. Dr. Johnson didn't stay by my side that entire time, Mari was there-- but he popped in off and on to check up on me, often between seeing other patients. For the most part, I was the only patient in the treatment room.

Now, it truly is like going to a beauty salon. First the nurse takes me to a regular consultation room where she does the check-in routine-- taking my blood pressure, temperature, weight, etc. Then I either meet with the doctor himself or with the physician's assistant (they alternate visits). They take care of any changes in treatment. This week, he added a new drug for pain-control (the Alleve wasn't working very well) and prescribed something to help me sleep (more on those later).

From there, I got to the treatment room, a large room with probably 12-15 "stations." Each is set up with a recliner, a comfortable chair for a companion, and the pumps, etc. from which the solution bags for the IV can be hung and cabinets with supplies between two stations. At that point, the nurses take over.

Mari was surprised to see that the needles they use for the IV are the smallest ones they make-- they are the size used on the babies in newborn intensive care. Actually, she was also surprised that they were able to pump the medicines (from the IV bags) into my body so fast using such small needles. All I have to say, is that, with such a small needle, I hardly feel the poke. I am so very grateful because, as much as I try to suppress it, I have a little tendency to jump if I can feel myself getting poked-- and it's worse if it hurts!

There have probably been 6-8 nurses there when I have had treatment, although it looks like the room has workstations for 10 nurses or so. Each nurse seems to be assigned to one or two patients, but, if needed, they cover for each other. By that, I mean that, if for some reason, I needed something and the nurse working with me was tending another patient, a different nurse would stop by to deal with the issue. The first time I went, there were probably only 6 or 7 other patients. This past week, there were probably 15 patients or so-- it was much busier, but I felt like I had more personal attention despite the increased numbers.

Superheroes treat others with kindness and compassion-- even though the circumstances and methods may change over time. The first time around, it felt very much like it was Dr. Johnson and me against the world-- it was definitely one-on-one treatment. Now I feel like I have a whole team of people working in my behalf. The one thing that hasn't changed is the feeling of support and caring that everyone has for me. I'm thankful for the excellent care through it all.