So I get a lovely perky nurse who immediately says I have no veins, and sticks a heat pack on me to bring them up. Huh? How the hell do you figure i have crap veins just by looking at my arms? Oh well, you're the expert. When she came back, she starts poking around in really odd spots.. I couldn't help myself, and mentioned that I usually have a pretty decent vein in the back of my hand or my ACF. She tells me they're not allowed to use those ones. Hmm, ok. Finally she's happy with a spot, and preps the area. Now, I'm a big baby with needles, and I'm still not used to getting poked. I kept telling myself it's just a baby needle, its only a 22G, tiny little needle most commonly used on little old ladies, and then she goes and sticks the needle in and HOLY F*CKEN MOTHER F*CKER SH*T, it kinda hurt just a little bit. And then the sound no patient ever ever likes to hear from a nurse holding a needle in your vein "oh dear" She blew the vein. Sigh. And she blew it well....
So now I have another bruise to add to the collection. Yay me. She then called another nurse who got it first pop, and no bruise to remember her by.
I've also discovered that knowing the correct pronounciation to the drug names highlights you as a nurse. The fact I knew how to pronounce "ondansetron" and "dexamethasone" was apparently a dead give away. As soon as I said it, she said "oh, are you a nurse" and i asked 'what gave it away?' She replied, nobody knows the names of their drugs. I thought this was a little bit odd - i've had patients that know their drugs, but no, apparently here they all go by colour and size. Good to know. I'll have to learn the colours now, so I can try and pass as a 'real' patient!
So chemo wasn't too bad. Just long and boring. First up they started running fluids to hydrate my kidneys. Then they gave me a steriod so I wouldn't puke (sounds good to me!). An hour later, they run the chemo drug with a antidiuretic (a drug to make you pee - lots!) and then an hour after that, they run more fluids through to flush out your kidneys. So 3 hours of sitting there being bored and making mad dashes to the toilet.
The place itself is sad and depressing. I was the youngest patient there. All old sick people. The guy next to me had an annoying wife who laughed like a hyena every time the nurse said anything. And they were watching movies on their ipad without headphones, which is against the rules. Ugh. Across from me was an asian guy who didn't speak any english, so he was allowed TWO people in there so one could be the interpreter (also against the rules, you're only allowed one person with you), and the woman who was doing the translating did not stop talking at all. Not once. She was all blah blah blah, the whole time. So after about an hour of this very noisy environment, my head was starting to ache something terrible. Nothing worse than a brewing migraine while you're getting chemo. SIgh.
So my mother and I (note - I only had the allowed one visitor) sat there on our respective ipads, reading books and playing cards. We must have looked quite the sight really, both sitting there reading. And when we wanted to gossip about the other people, we just wrote notes to each other. Very juvenille, but definitely helped pass the time.
Finally, I was all done, unhooked, IV removed and kicked out the door. Another day down, a few more to go. I've been a good patient - I've taken all the recommened drugs, and so far, no nausea or vomiting. In fact, the steriods have actually given me a small amount of energy AND I managed to eat my dinner tonight, for the first time in a few weeks now! Hopefully this good feeling continues! Tomorrow is a rare free day - no chemo, no radiation, no appointments. What to do with a whole day of nothing..... :)
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