Chemo treatment #4

Yesterday Michele had her fourth , and final, treatment of her first round of chemo. As always, it snowed like crazy on chemo day, so we had an interesting drive to the hospital. Then it was the normal routine, pop in for a quick blood draw and then off to see the oncologist.

The doctor had nothing but good news. Michele's blood counts look good. The tumor is barely palpable. Everything looks great. She made a point once again to say that Michele was tolerating the treatment really well and that she wasn't much of a whiner. She was extremely pleased with the progress and said that 9 out of 10 women with the same markers (progesterone positive, HER2 receptive, etc.), and on the same treatment end up with no discernible tumor at the end of chemo. She also told us that comparatively the next round of drugs, Taxol/Herceptin, was going to be "a piece of cake". How good does that sound?

Michele got a couple new prescriptions (we've lost count at this point), including one for heartburn which has been her biggest nemesis lately. Hopefully this means better sleep in the coming week.

Next it was off to waiting room number three at the clinic. Usually this is about a 10-15 minute wait and then we are in the treatment room and ready to rock. An hour later... the nurse came out and apologized for the delay, but she was still waiting on blood counts. Michele said, "You mean like these?" and handed her the copy that we had with us the whole time. Frustrating, but then we were of an running.

This was the first time that we didn't get a private room. We still weren't in the big public area, but rather had a little cubby with curtains on both sides. Michele's friend Michelle is in from San Francisco and came with us to hang out. Pretty much the same procedure that we have gotten used to. Michele still has to keep her mouth cold throughout the first phase of the treatment. After her visceral reaction to ice chips last time, we were smart enough to bring frozen juice pops with us. She was quite happy!

Once again, we had the pleasure and entertainment of Viking Mike. We were excited upon arrival to see him making his normal laps around the facility with his IV cart. After while, and as he was for some reason sweeping the carpet, he came over and asked Michele if she liked flowers. I was pretty sure he was hitting on her with me sitting right there, but he just wanted to talk about his garden. Michele, an enthusiastic gardener and lover of all things flower, was delighted to talk about his garden, her garden, butterflies, good websites to buys plants, and manure. Mike even invited her to come to his house and steal some of his plants! He also offered to let her have a five gallon bucket of "sheep s*#t"... although we may pass on that one. Then he was off to sweep, offer to get people snacks, and harass old ladies. Different guy. Sweet guy. He makes it kind of fun to go there.

Then it was home to the little one. Michele had a rough evening. Headache, nausea, just didn't feel right. She got a quick nap and then worked on some yoga and relaxation techniques with Michelle. She just woke up from the best night's sleep she has had in a long time, so hopefully today will be better.

Rock 'n roll.