It's Thursday and I am riding in the Pontiac. I always marvel at the car and love having a driver. GM could do this and still went out of business. Had they done it with 100 mpg average fuel economy they would still be my Customer affectionately called Generous Motors. Ah well, saylaV, or vay as they say. Our first chemo session. 'Well first we're going to take your blood'’ Marietta said. With that I was wheeled away from my Vanessa. 'We will get her back here as soon as we are done' he nurse assured me. I wheeled through the door with the vampire on it into a well lit room. On the right a wall lined with stuff, desks, cabinets and the like. Lots of kids and families on display, cartoons some catchy sayings and a lot of theme material relating to taking, borrowing, draining blood. 'What's your birth date’? I answered with my usual drone to the inquiry. With that she studied my arm for just the right vane. As she did so she carried on with her cohort and said 'I am going to need a urine sample.' 'Left it at the door' was my reply. 'I'll get a biobag and you can get it back to me.' 'Give me ten minutes' was my reply. Then a new rule, 'from now on if you have to when you get here come here first, just come on in and we will get that before your appointment.' 'Thank you' was my sheepish reply. Once again the standard of care and empathy humbled me. The vampire left and returned with a tray on which 20 empty vials were carefully arranged. Finding a suitable vein is easy for me, fortunately, and upon singling one out she placed the needle in and secured it. Seeing all the vials I thought perhaps 3 or 4 were mine and the rest related to other clients. Sorry about that. They were all for me.
Now at last, chemo time is here.
Entering the infusion center for the second time I was first struck by how it was not as I remembered it. Drugs I attributed that notion to.
We were assigned a cubicle, resplendent with flat screen cable TV, trick chair, and guest chair (not so trick). Wrapping my arm in a warm blanket (still not sure where they come from) to bring out the veins Nurse Infusion worked feverishly getting her tools in order. She set her IV and connected me to a bag of saline, first of two. ‘This will take a couple of hours' she said. Vanessa and I settled in. Well, mostly Vanessa, since I was up ever 5-10 minutes making a beeline to the comfort station. The stand with my IV pump and fluid had a base with 6 wheels. This made for easy rotation and navigation. The pump was battery operated and I had free reign. Each time I was up, pushing my stand and using it for support instead of my cane, I passed Clients whose smile and expression belied the fact that they knew exactly where I was coming from. After 10 or so trips Nurse Infusion shows up with two strangers. The expression I detected on the face of one was faux sympathy, and on the other maybe we shouldn't bother this one. In a sing song voice, very soft she introduced herself and her partner. ‘We have found yoga to be very helpful. May we show you some exercises?’ ‘That does sound interesting, but can we do it another time? I am in some pain.’ ‘Oh, you are in pain?’ I knew then this pair were in their own world. Everyone has told me I wear my pain like a stain on a dress shirt, in glaring fashion. My trip through the hospital had been met with many looks of sympathy for my obvious discomfort, yet this one did not have a clue. ‘Yes, and I have to pee every 5 minutes or so.’ ‘That often?’ ’24 seven’ I replied. I thought perhaps she was a 911 operator in another life;
‘911, what’s your emergency’
‘I need an ambulance at the corner of 34th and Gray. My name is Red Ruffensore. I have a man down with a gunshot injury and a large laceration bleeding profusely.’
‘And what is the name of the man sir?’
‘How the hell should I know?’
‘Oh, so you are just passing by?’
‘I need an ambulance not an interview please.’
‘By down do you mean he is on the street, or is he somewhere else?’
‘Never mind 911, I’ll call county morgue.’
‘Well let’s just try an exercise.’ And with that she proceeded to contort one shoulder and lower the other while explaining to me the step by step. Her faithful sidekick did not join in but seemed to watch in admiring fashion. So it was I sat there as she showed me some stationary moves to help me. In the end my condition overwhelmed their effort, although they hung about a bit to see if I could muster it up. In retrospect yoga lessons is a great idea for cancer patients like myself. With all that introspection it is understandable that these gals might be short on the empathy department. After all they are focused on the benefits of what they offer. Then we learned I did not pass my blood test. My kidney creatinine levels were too high. Vanessa did her best with this news and set back.
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