I went for another round of bloodwork today.
First of all, let me just say I am continually impressed by how sweet the folks who work at the lab are. It’s a big lab that does bloodwork for most everyone, and for some reason the Cancer Agency sends me to them once per cycle.
So, every three weeks, I have bloodwork done at the big lab and again a week later at the Cancer agency.The big lab is often crowded with weirdos but the staff who work there are always really kind. Actually, I have to say, I think they are nicer than the folks in the lab at the Cancer Agency who poke me and drain my blood. Or maybe it’s because at the lab the poker-gals always make some comment about the cancer and ask how it’s going. No one does that at the Cancer Agency, not when they take my blood. Now, I kind of understand why, but still, when you are getting poked as often as I am, it’s nice when they are sweet to you.
In spite of my courageous exterior, I am really a bit of a candy-ass when it comes to giving blood or having it taken. I have to bring Elaine with me to hold my hand. You might expect that I had made some progress on this score over the last few months, but no.
I was thinking earlier today that if everything goes well and according to the original plan, then I am basically almost at the halfway point of this process (not to suggest that I am counting the days or doing anything other than savouring every moment of this…, mmmm… yum…).
So, yeah, today, I was sitting in the sun, thinking about being a bloodletting candy-ass and I thought, “whoo hoo, I am coming up on the halfway point!”
And I confess, I enjoyed that idea for several hours.
And then I realized that even if everything continues to go well, I will still be going for bloodwork every three months for the next couple of years and then every 6 months and so on…
Which is still a nice long gap compared to what I am doing now.
And you know, it’s a necessary evil.
Anyway, bloodwork today means I am starting the build-up process for round 4.
This week I will:
do bloodwork
see my GP
go to the launch party for the calendar my gf spent the last few years working on
Have a CT Scan
Go to Pride
Go to the wedding of some of my favorite people.
This is a very busy week for me. I expect it will be the busiest week I have thru the whole chemo thing.
Next week I will:
do bloodwork again
meet with Dr. Oncologist and the nurse who co-ordinates the study I am in
do another round of chemo
stay awake for the remainder of that week and a goodly chunk of the next (unless we come up with the right combo and find some balance between the steroids and something else so I can actually get some beauty sleep.)
I really really really want to be able to enjoy some of the summer this year.
I had really high hopes for this summer, and it’s more than a little ironic that I got knocked on my ass. I am trying to figure out a way to get out of the city, even if only for a day.
I’m getting a bit cabin fever-ish, and I think it’s time for my Houdini impersonation. It may have to wait a couple of weeks, but that’s my plan.
On a totally different note, I am re-reading Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and that’s a lot of fun. I had started it in April, when Elaine and I went to Tofino for our birthdays, but we came back to Vancouver and everything kind of went to shite quite quickly and I couldn’t focus on it while I was in the hospital and it all just kind of fell to the wayside, until now.
Unfortunately, it looks like I will still have to wait a while before Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince comes out.
Guess that means I have to start again with the first book and make my way through it all over again.