I was so ready for today. So ready. I walked into the back room to pick my chair. Then I became very uneasy when I saw that there were different nurses on duty today. I really looked forward to seeing the team from the first 2 rounds. But one had finally moved on to retirement and the other was subbing for a doctor doing patient office visits. The new nurses were really friendly and very nice, but when it comes to putting needles in me, I trusted the two others who hadn't done me wrong.
So there I am, a bit nervous, but hoping for the best. It was not to be. It took 3 tries, into 3 different veins to get the needle in. The first nurse called over the second nurse after her first two tries failed. The second nurse got it in without any more damage. Ouch! That was not a good beginning at all. I can't blame the nurse, she was doing great with other patients. And I noticed the second nurse also had some trouble with another patient. I guess my veins just weren't cooperating today. Thank goodness I only have to go through that one more time.
The appointment lasted an hour longer than usual today, 4 1/2 hours total. The office had experienced delays getting the drug deliveries due to the storms and flight cancellations from the Midwest. This caused delays getting the preparation of drugs to us. And it was a full house today, all chairs taken. But at last, the last drip dripped and the alarm sounded that my last fluid bag was empty. Whew!
I am feeling fine as I have felt after the last two rounds. Still no nausea. The anti-nausea medicines are a blessing. They really work for me. My blood results weren't as solid as the last two times. My white blood count was up due to the Neulasta shot. That's good. But my red blood count was a bit low as were a couple of other related results. I guess I'm bordering on anemic. They told me it's nothing to worry about now. The numbers aren't slowly sliding down. They are just bouncing around a bit, fluctuating around the low border line. Sometimes acceptable, this time on the low side. They will keep a watch for the blood test results as I go in on my Wednesday lab days. If it gets too low, they'll call me in. They mentioned something about how I might need a transfusion. Oh, no! More infusion needles! I can't have that. I will make sure to take my multi-vitamins daily and eat more spinach! There is also another shot, similar to the Neulasta shot that they give me to increase my white blood cells. This other shot would help increase the red blood cells. They could choose that route but the insurance company would have to approve it and they don't like to. And then, maybe I'll just need to take an iron supplement, though I don't like those either. I guess I'll just concentrate on what I can do with my diet and One-A-Day Vitamins for now.
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