Ahh. . . there you are!

(7/25/08)

"There you are!"
"Do I know you?"
"No, but that's where you are, you're there!"
(12 points if you name this movie)

Well, you're there, and I'm here, here being the Stanford Cancer Center, in the infusion treatment area (ITA) to be specific, in Treatment Area C2 to be even more specific. And that all means. . . yup! My counts were good enough for treatment! Yay! My neutrophils were at 1.7 two days ago, so I was greenlit to go in yesterday and for the next four days (til Sunday). Again, it's sort of a mixed bag of celebration I suppose, since I do get to/have to spend the next four days sitting here for 10 hrs a day, but it's another step towards completion of this long haul. It's not so bad - I usually get my own room since I'm here all day, and the place is somehow more cheerful than the normal hospital. When you stay inpatient, the people there are usually all really sick: a lot of them are bedridden or barely mobile. Plus, as I think I've said before, it's just kind of aweful being there at night - it's noisy and uncomfortable and boring and lonely, and you wake up to a totally unappetizing breakfast.

Here in the ITA, some people are just here a couple hours, others the full day like me, but almost everyone walks in and walks out. There are big windows and plenty of daylight. The nurses are all very friendly and they seem a bit less stressed out than the inpatient folks.

Still, this round seems to be hitting me a little harder than the previous ones have. I felt pretty nauseated going home yesterday and I haven't been able to eat much. Maybe it's the fact that I had a bit of a break and was feeling pretty good, so the contrast is that much greater. I dunno.
Just gotta roll with it I guess, and take my meds on time.