Longest day ever

My parents left around 6am today to take me to chemo and then to take me to north jersey with them afterwards. I decided to write an hour by hour update of our day.

7:00 am: my parent say that they are an hour and a half away. I warn them of upcoming traffic and direct them to take the Walt Whitman Bridge, based on Ken's traffic knowledge, not mine.

8:00am: take my morning mix of drugs

9:15am: Ken helps me down the steps. My parents bring a few bags of stuff down and finish loading car.

10am: We park car and my parents unload wheelchair. As they struggle, in the rain, to put the legs on, I say to forget it, as I won't need them once I am in chemo.

11am: I get called back for my vitals to be measured. The nurse took blood because she was concerned about yesterday's fever. My blood counts came back too low for me to have chemo. The nurse directs us to an exam room.

12pm: We are still waiting to see the doctor.

1pm: Still waiting. Good thing we were almost on time.

2-2:20pm: Dr. Rubin came in and we discussed 1/week v. 4-in-a-row and concluded that we might try 4-in-a-row again, as it took me 6 days to fully recover either way and I may as well have bang for my buck. She said she did not like how swollen my knee was. She added that I needed to get a blood transfusion, across the street at Hahnemann University Hospital. She explained that I needed to be admitted to the hospital to get blood, because of Red Cross rules. Dr. Rubin tells us to stay in the room while her staff lets the hospital know my situation and while we wait for a bed to open up.

3pm: We leave Dr. Rubin's office, walk to Broad and Vine, cross the street, take the elevator to the 4th floor, Direct Admissions. We wait for nearly an hour to register with those folks. My leg is throbbing; it usually is propped up on a few pillows and pointing down in a wheelchair is taking its toll. Dad drives me up the 15th floor, instead of waiting for Transportation because that might take a while, according to the admissions people. Also, I am the rare person who gets every bracelet: fall risk (yellow), drug allergy (red), latex allergy (green), and no-bp-or-needle-this-arm (violet), though the second one today.

4pm: Dr Craft comes and is concerned about fever. I tell him about my fevers. Then my family loudly explains that I have to leave tonight. The nurse takes a ton of blood: several vials from my port and a number from a vein in my inner arm. She sends in another nurse to get blood from another site; all this blood taking is driving my mother crazy as she wants to see me getting blood.

5pm: waiting for blood.

6pm: waiting for blood.

7pm: The nurse starts my transfusion bag; it is scheduled to empty in an hour. My vital signs show no fever, great blood pressure, and slightly high pulse. I get medications. Dad goes to sleep.

9pm Blood transfusion bag #2 is hooked up. I am starting to feel good. Maybe it's the blood (mmmm, type A negative!) or the 1/3 of a decidedly undelicious spaghetti and meatball dinner the nurse ordered for me and I ate.

11pm?: blood bag #3 is hooked up. Almost done!

12am: blood bag #4 starts.

1:25am: the transfusion machine is beeping. It is mostly empty and my body is full of beautiful hemoglobin-rich blood. We are all packed up; we just need our discharge papers and for me to be disconnected. Dad just woke up.