Separation Anxiety?

On Friday, June 25th, my day started at 5:45 am. It was 67 degrees outside. By 6:45 am Scott and I were on our way to the UW Madison Hospital for my final #12 treatment of Taxol. By 7:15 am we had arrived at the hospital, had a quick kiss good-bye and I was on my way to the Cancer Clinic. I was checked in by 7:34 am and by request, showed everyone the tattoo on the back of my head. By 8:00 am I was in the Oncology lab having my port accessed and blood taken for the usual weekly tests - white blood counts and liver. By 8:24 I was out of the lab and got comfortable in a rocking chair where I waited for the results of my blood tests and for my treatment. It was 9:10 am and Nurse Suzanne called me for treatment. I passed my blood tests - barely again - and by 10 am Nurse Suzanne had finished administrating the pre-meds before treatment. This is a 20-25 minute process. I then had to wait for 20 minutes because the Pharmacy was now backed up with chemo orders. Usual. 20 minutes is short. There was one treatment that I waited over 2 hours for Pharmacy!

By 10:17 am, the Herceptin infusion had begun. This time I was receiving a full dose of Herceptin (1-1/2 hour infusion) in addition to the final Taxol infusion. I was beginning to feel light headed and had some slight pressure between my eyes. All of this is a reaction from the pre-meds I received. At 10:30 there was a Blue Cart Emergency call in the Breast Center. Not a good thing. Usually I hear at least 3-4 emergency calls. Today I only heard the one.

At 12:06 pm the Herceptin infusion was done. I didn't have any reactions this week. If you recall, last treatment I was experiencing muscle spasms throughout my body. It is 12:30 pm and the final Taxol treatment had begun. The blood pressure cuff had been secured on my right arm. It takes my blood pressure and pulse rate every 15 minutes throughout the treatment. I put all the numbers into my iphone. Numbers I probably will never look at again, but it keeps me occupied. It's now 1:30 and the final Taxol is done. Nurse Suzanne sits and talks to me while she flushes my port and disconnects all the tubes before pulling out the needle. The chemo ward was slow today so Nurse Suzanne had more time to just talk to me. We both enjoyed the different conversations we had with each other throughout the day. I think she was one of the nicest Nurses I had.

It's 1:44 pm and the side effects have begun. Maybe I'll tell you about all the new ones in another blog.


By 2:25 pm, I am outside of the hospital waiting for Scott. He and an employee of his are on campus at a sales call. They pick me up and we are on our way to SONIC Burger for a late lunch. By 3:24 pm, almost 9 hours after leaving the house, I am home.

This is what my Fridays have been like since February. The nurses have been different, the tattoos on the back of my head have been different, but for the most part, the day is the same. I have made many friends in my weekly visits to the Cancer Center - Nurses, check-in girls, other patients and convicts and Prison Guards. I have met people who drive great distances just to be treated at the University Cancer Center. For some, other clinics and doctors have only given them a death sentence. At UW, they have found hope. I have never been shy to say Hi to anyone and ask them how they were feeling and to give them some encouragement and maybe a laugh or two. Sometimes, my new friends just needed someone to listen to them complain. That was me listening to them.


I remember Dr W. suggesting I get counseling because I will be seeing less and less of her as my treatment progresses. I remember looking at her like she was nuts, but politely said I would think about it. I've thought about it. This Friday will be the first Friday where I won't be spending it at the hospital. Will I miss Dr. W.? Will I miss the needles and tubes hanging out of my chest? No. What I will miss is the really good free cookies they have for patients and my friends.

Not to worry, I still have treatments every three weeks until next year May.