Day two of cycle two chemo.

The IV drip stayed in all last night, finishing about the same time I woke at 7:0am. (Yeah I know that's not exactly early.. but it feels like it is when you are in hospital.)
I grabbed a decent breakfast and then it was straight back into the Chemo. I spent nearly the whole morning remotely working on my computer back at Total Performance, doing invoicing and paying bills.

I had the usual morning meeting in my room with Dr D and we covered a lot of things. He's becoming a lot easier to talk to now that he's getting used to my kiwi accent. Yesterday we covered subjects as diverse as the depth of the Cook Strait, earthquakes and the English language. All this while he was inserting a central line under my skin instead of inside a vein.. (I should not have distracted him perhaps!)

Today we talked about my treatment. I explained that I needed to leave by 29th Sept as I wanted to be back at work for the new month. (I didn't tell him that I was missing Sarah, friends and family and I just want out of here!) However there is a large element of truth in the statement about work. I was supposed to be here 3-4 weeks for high dose chemo and a bone marrow transplant, but that was changed to salvage chemo after reviewing my case notes. The net result is I will have been here seven weeks by the time I leave. I've drawn no income for the entire time and I've got some huge bills to pay.

I asked if it was OK to take Ginkgo Biloba capsules while on chemo and he said it was. He even recommended it. This is good because it's the only thing listed anywhere that is known to help reduce the tinnitus (ringing in my ears) brought about by the chemo I had last cycle. I don't know if it will prevent further damage from this second cycle of chemo but I'm going to take it anyway. The change of drugs was to prevent any further damage so I should be OK. Apparently 35% of people report a reduction in severity of their tinnitus when Ginkgo is taken for 70 days or more.

I got that call I always dread again today. Dr Glonti wanted me down in his Thermotherapy cave.
This was the forth time I've had the treatment and the three previous times I've suffered badly from a pinched nerve in my neck that causes severe pain in my left shoulder and arm. It's aggravated by having my neck at a certain angle. Today the pain was so bad I lifted my head off the bed in the hope of finding a 'sweet spot' that would unload the offending vertebrae that was causing it. Presto! found it! instant removal of pain, like flicking a switch from 'pain' to 'no-pain'.
I asked Dr G to slide another towel under my neck, and all in the world was good again. But then without the pain in my shoulder to distract me, I suddenly realised just how hot it was! Bugger! out of the frying pan into the fire.. literally.

I asked Dr G what the benefits of thermotherapy was with regards to chemotherapy and he said that "it makes the chemo work better". "Do you mean it potentiates the treatment?" I asked. There was a silence. "Makes it more potent" I added. "yes, yes, potentiate" he replied. I think I taught the doctor a new word, or at least helped him dredge it up from some dusty corner. How many words must there be rattling around in the head of a man that speaks four languages!! The brain is an amazing thing.. hunting out the right words from a vocbaulary of hundreds of thousands in micro seconds.

There are so many new faces here, Annette, Monica, Merlina.. all nurses that have returned from holiday. Then there's Fredrika back from Croatia, and not to mention Dr Drasynski.
I had a really long chat with nurse Natalie this morning. She speaks English very well and seems to enjoy a break from work. We covered the history of this klinik, how a few years ago all forty five rooms would be full all the time with the rich and the famous. This was because of the original owner who was a bit of a socialite and mixed and mingled in the right circles. He died of a heart attack in 2005 during a seminar in Las Vegas. Since that time things have slowed, the prices have stayed the same.. still aimed at the rich. Such a shame because so many more people could benefit from the care they offer if they could only afford it. In my case cost was not an issue, purely for the reason you can't put a figure on your own life. Doesn't stop me wanting to leave first chance I get though!

I'm over these drips.. the line keeps blocking up, and my arm is hurting where the veins are inflamed. It feels like a tight tendon, but it's the vein. Yuk. ..Wish that central line op had been successful!.
I have something going in the line now to correct the PH level of my urine, then I have two salines followed by those horrible steroids at about 8pm. Whatever is in the PH fixer, it stings like mad. Grrr..

OK that's enough outpouring for one afternoon..