Maintenance

Well, it was time for my first "tune-up" as Nurse Sheila calls it. I was heading in with a little trepidation. I wasn't looking forward to being "stuck" in the port again. It's amazing how you can get so used to being stuck every week but when you have two months off, it's like starting over again.

We were a little late getting there due to an empty gas tank. Then the blood work took a long time to get back from the lab. The news was not great-my white count was very, very low. Lindsey was my escort for the day and her ears perked up and I'm sure her heart started to race. We both asked Dr. Schwartz "Why?" and "What would cause this to happen?" He said he wasn't really sure and asked a lot of questions as to any symptoms I might have had like night sweats (often) aches and pains (of course) and still wasn't sure. When he mentioned the possibility of another bone marrow test my heart sank. I just had a clear pet scan, for crying out loud!!!

He decided to send me for the "tune-up" because it couldn't hurt-it could only help, particularly with the terrible bone pain and aches I was having. (I felt like I was 90 years old on some days!) Of course, they were running behind over at infusion so we had to wait. It is, unfortunately, a very busy place and there were no empty chairs! Nurse Naomi finally called me in and we settled in for the three hour treatment, armed with our I-Pads to help pass the time.

Put in a holding pattern again due to my low white count, (they needed verbal approval from the doctor), my friend Fran, the most amazing volunteer, brought me a cup of tea and we caught up on the last two months. She is truly amazing and so much fun to talk to.

We finally got the ball rolling and the infusion dripping. I took a little snooze, (due to the benadryl in the drip), Lisa came by to visit, and after five very long hours, we were on our way home! Honestly, it could have been a lot worse if the staff at PBCI weren't so amazing!