Out of the Hospital after Round 1

I had high hopes of getting out early this time given that all the chemo orders got submitted early and I was showing up at 8am. I had my port accessed shortly after 9am... and the waiting commenced once again. From 9am to 2pm... nothing. Finally the pre-meds began a little after 2pm. Major frustration. I didn't finish the Taxol until 6:30 in the evening. Then... more waiting. The carboplatin had not been mixed yet and it was shift change. Finally we started with more pre-meds and the carboplatin commenced at 9pm. That put me on a release schedule of about 2pm Saturday afternoon. It also assured I would be awakened repeatedly all night. They gave me a big dose of benedryl to knock me out, then woke me up every 45 minutes to either take vital signs or change the carbo bag until 1:45 in the morning when they started the final bag. They decided to run it at a 10 hour rate instead of the usual 12 hour rate which put me back on pace to be out of there before noon. And from that point, I was only awakened every hour and a half for vital signs. Despite that, I still felt like I slept OK. I was so zonked from the drugs I barely woke when needed and fell right back to sleep. I love the night nurse. I remember her from my last go around.

I got a visit from the doc making rounds about 7am and got up and ordered breakfast. Then I got a surprise visit from my oncologist, too. That was nice of him to visit me while seeing his surgical patients. I asked about my CT scans and he said he got them, and didn't remember there being anything noteworthy in them. He also noticed my iPad and asked about it. I showed him a few things and said I loved it. By the time he left he said he would probably be getting one soon. Ha!

So I finished the last bag and they had everything ready to check me out. The nurse came right in, removed the access needle and I was on my way before noon.

I have decided I just need to be zen about the whole thing and just anticipate being there until Saturday around noon each time. I might try telling the nurse I will be downstairs until noon and to call if they get things ready earlier. That 5 hour wait drove me nuts. They did a good job of keeping me medicated and hydrated this time. That was encouraging. They even gave me a new 3 day nausea med, twice, and the usual zofran.

So now to get through the next 3 days. Sunday night to Monday night should be the worst. Then I climb out of the hole slowly... then wait to lose my hair again. Boo-hoo!