We are go for lift-off !

Well that was an interesting 30 minutes. We are all go for chemo. They have the eye drops coming on a courier.

Dr G has removed the old cannula and installed two more. I am hooked up to two drips, one in each arm. I look like a puppet! Typing is awkward, luckily not impossible.
I'm currently being pumped full of saline in preparation for the first of the chemo drugs, Cisplatin. I have to be fully hydrated to avoid kidney damage. They have given me another bottle to pee into as well (thankfully a small one), this is to check the PH both before and after.

I've been given an anti-fungal oral suspension to gargle for the anticipated thrush that always happens with me and chemo.
Dr G listed off all the other drugs that will be administered, I had hoped to write them down but I couldn't catch any of the names. I know what they do, anti-emetics, to stop me throwing up, anti inflammatories to enhance the chemo's affects and protect against damage to healthy cells.
Stuff for my kidneys etc. I've been told to drink lots and lots of water. I'll certainly be doing that. (Once a few years back I forgot to and it took pain in my kidneys to remind me).

Now we wait....

Biljana (who is Croatian as I had thought) has injected an anti-emetic into my line, as she did I remembered that I had a peculiar reaction to such a drug a few years back.. it knocked me out cold for hours! This time I feel OK.
She's put the eye gel in too, makes things a little blurry, but not too bad.

One of the lines has sprung a leak at the cannula, I think a small piece of cotton cloth got under the screw fitting, I've pointed it out to the nurse and she has now remedied it. I got her to tape the lines to my wrist too so I can still type. :)

So far so good..

When Dr G was here I asked him about the affects of Alexan on my fragile bone marrow and if he was prepared for any problems. He replied that I would be given GCSF and Neumega, both are growth factors used to increase blood counts post chemo.
My platelet count is 135 today, that's high for me. He said that if my count goes under 100 then no chemo. I laughed and said 50 was acceptable back in NZ considering how badly damaged my bone marrow is. (marrow is where blood is made).

I told him the story of when my platelet count was under ten and the Haematologist at Wgtn hospital had gone off on his Christmas break and not even bothered to tell anyone. I had no idea how serious that situation was and drank my fair share of Christmas spirit.
It was not until I started to bleed from my eyes that I realised how serious it was.
Dr G was incredulous, he asked how I was still alive and that I should have had a platelet transfusion urgently. I shrugged..

Well the chemo is now going in. Nurse Manja has replaced Biljana as the shift changed.
I've asked her nicely if she could go to the kitchen and have them make me two ham, tomato and mustard sandwiches. I had phoned and asked but the weekend staff must not speak English very well and did not understand me. Manja now knows two new words, Ham and Mustard.
Ooh they have arrived! They look good..

It's been about an hour, and although I feel a little off colour, there's no nausea yet.
Have made a mental note to avoid getting my line caught in my button-fly after doing so. Then wondering why my arm would not move and when forcing the issue becoming completely perflexed as to why something was moving in my pants.

I'd like to have written something humorous today, but you know, try as I might I just couldn't think of anything humorous about being poisoned. However I have yet to have my dinner so there is hope yet ;)

....Four hours have now passed and I'm still feeling pretty good.. I've just finished the Cisplatin and will now have just a saline drip until around 1am.

I'll leave it at that and start another post if anything changes..