Chemo, chemo, chemo continued

Yesterday I had my blood tests and they were pretty good. I ate well the previous week, went to the gym and drank plenty of liquids. I'm sure it all helped. Also, I was a week longer away from chemo. Couldn't have hurt! So on to chemo #5. The next to the last chemo. whoo hoo!
I arrived at Kaiser at 8:30 in time for my pre-chemo doctor's visit. As I was weighed and measured (height, weight, blood pressure, temperature and oxygen level) the nurse's assistant explained that things might be a little strange and delayed today because Kaiser was introducing a new computer system and today was the first day for them in Chemo. Well, the same thing had been told to me the day before in the lab. And if anything, things went smoother than normal so I wasn't very concerned. Boy howdy, was that a mistake! After a nice visit with Dr. Liu, she took us over to the chemo side of oncology. We waited for her to figure out if we should be brought in or wait in the lounge. Lounge it was. Then a nurse came for us and I chose the chair I always sit in. I don't know why it is so important to me, but I feel best when I can see what the nurses are up to at their computers, I have an easy trip to the restroom and I can see who is coming and going. Again I got the same spiel about the new system and how they were a little behind and still learning. I noticed that there was a huge team of spectators from whom I assumed was the software company, observing the chaos of the chemo room. I haven't ever felt this way before. Normally, there is a quiet calm surrounding the dozens of patients who come in for their treatments. The protocals are meticulously followed. Each patient is carefully identified, each medication is gone over with the patient, each step of the way is carefully announced verbally and documented on the computer. Today, I ended up being very concerned. The nurses were doing their best. It was the first day of the new system. It seemed as if they hadn't actually been prepared for the changeover and were constantly having to repeat input with scanners and keyboards. Most of the stuff that was done at the patient's side normally was done across the room at the desktop computers. I never felt that I was sure that the meds I was getting were mine. I finally asked the nurse to identify all the bags of liquids because it seemed like there were more than I normally received. But that was because I forgot the pepcid. So it was okay but I had to ask and that had never happened before. I also had to wait for the pharmacy to okay and send over the drugs. It took much longer than normal. I assume they were experiencing the same learning curve on their side of the building that we were in chemo. So things started getting backed up. My drips sometimes started beeping and there was no one to check to see if the bag was empty or there was a kink in the line. Usually someone comes over right away to check. Then patients started coming in and taking chairs that had already been assigned to other patients. Tempers started flaring. Patients started threatening to go home. I was beginning to feel a bit stressed because the double booked chair was right next to me and people weren't happy and weren't afraid to let the nurses know. The nurses, to their credit, did their best to assuage the feelings of the troubled patients but it still affected the atmosphere of the room. And me. I read a little and slept a little. But it just didn't feel good this time. I'm sure my next visit will be just fine as they get used to the new system but today was not fun. One note. I put a lidocaine cream over my port each time I have chemo to deaden the pain as they put the needle into the port. I wonder why I bother. I always feel it. It is much more painful than a regular transfusion needle so I wonder if my lidocaine isn't any good or if I put it on too early or too late. Just wondering. When my drip was all finished, the machine beeped and beeped. My nurse was trying to get another patient going and didn't hear the beep. No one else paid attention. Finally I told another nurse that if they were really short chairs someone could have mine. All I needed was to be disconnected from the drip lines and have the needle removed from the port. This was an offer they couldn't turn down. I was released from the chair and off I went to George's for a burger and fries. Then back to Kaiser where I picked up my neupogen from the one pharmacist clerk at Kaiser who has never learned to smile or make a nice comment like "thank you" or "have a nice day". I could hear the nice pharmacist's clerk in the back, helping train someone on the new system. Sigh.
Oh, one thing I should add. During my visit with Dr. Liu, I asked her when we would be able to know how much cancer this chemo was killing. She looked kind of surprise and told me I had forgotten one thing. As far as they are concerned, all the cancer was gone after the surgeries. This chemo is just to make sure it doesn't come back. So when people ask me about my health, I guess I'm not lying when I say I am just fine. And I don't have to say, except for the cancer. Because in Kaiser's opinion, I am cancer free. I hope I understood her correctly.
When I got home I slept for three hours and then had a lovely chicken and rice from math teacher Kevin at WCI. There are three Kevins on staff at WCI! Yum, yum, just what the doctor ordered.
So, now I am down to one chemo heavy left and then nine months of chemo light. And of course, the radiation which will, hopefully, start about this time next month. We will see.