Treatment day

Today we arrived at the General Hospital at 9.45 ready for my treatment at 10.00.  I was not sure whether I was having a transfusion of platelets or whether there had been a change of mind so that I would be having intravenous chemotherapy rather than in tablet form as we had agreed.  The room reserved was not available so I went into the day ward to have a special injection to boost my white cells.  My treatment, i.e. pentamidine, was booked for 2.30 p.m. and my appointment with Dr M was 1.20 p.m. so we had about three and a half hours to kill.

They were obviously all in a complete state of chaos but fortunately, we had written off today as being one which would be entirely spent at the hospital so it was not worth grieving about.  We took some sandwiches over to the Macmillan Centre which was unusually quiet.  The staff are very welcoming, made us coffee, provided us with biscuits and plates for our sandwiches.  It is a very comfortable place to spend time and I fell asleep in a chair which I later found was a recliner when one of the staff put it into position for me.

After seeing Dr M I went to the pentamidine room to breath in a substance which helps my immune system.  As I can’t wander around the hospital, Raymond went up to see my mother to get the latest news.  She is having an endoscopy tomorrow to check whether a stent near her gall bladder is blocked or needs replacing.  She will either return home tomorrow as Raymond was told, or Friday as I was told on the telephone.  At all events she is in good spirits and was up and dressed in day clothes which is a sure sign that in herself she is feeling well.

I have a cold and I am far from happy.  Of course, there are cold germs around us all the time but all our friends and family have been so considerate about visiting if they are a touch unwell – not so the lady at the weekend with the “bit of a cold”.  I am hoping that the treatments I have had today will help me to shake it off but Raymond has gone to the chemist to fetch a few things I may need.  Of course, everything has to be checked for its compatibility with my other tablets so zinc is out.

We are always tired after a day at the hospital so we plan to relax and watch a DVD.  Stress will not help my cold I know.