Tuesday, March 21, 2023

I had a long day at the hospital yesterday. My chemo treatment was scheduled for nine but I went a little early because I had some insurance papers that I needed to leave for the doctor’s signature. I knew I wouldn’t see the doctor so I had to explain it all to the ward clerk. I was still too early for treatment so I sat in the waiting room.

Several people came and went and it was after 9:30 before I got to my chair. More people came for pre-chemo assessments and then they disappeared back to the waiting room to wait for treatments or perhaps they were only there for the pre-assessments. Finally it was my turn. Although the nurse had trouble finding a spot for the IV, the one she settled on went in more or less on the first try. She warned me that it was a very tender spot and it would likely hurt – she wasn’t kidding me!

As I was having my treatment several other people came and went as they had much shorter drip times. At one point the doctor, not mine, came in and asked Jennifer, the nurse, why the lab reports weren’t coming up. Jen assured her that all of the people she had seen had been for their blood work and it must be that the lab was backed up. That didn’t stop the doctor from verbally abusing her (in my opinion) going on and on about how they needed to find out what the roadblocks were in the process and fixing them. Just a short while later Jen heard her taking a strip off the fill-in ward clerk; Jen went out to explain that the patient the doctor was asking about didn’t need lab work due to the drug s/he was getting. Again the doctor, in an unpleasant manner, told Jen she should have relayed that to the ward clerk. In my humble opinion the doctor should have looked at the chart and seen the drug and known that it didn’t require lab work.

When I told Jen she had been poorly treated she just said that everyone must be having a bad day. She was right. There was a woman in her chair for treatment before I got into mine. and another woman who was also waiting for drugs from the pharmacy to be delivered. In the first delivery the second lady got her drugs but they had to wait for another delivery for the poor woman who had been waiting for so long. When I left she was still undergoing her treatment; I hope it wasn’t a 4-hour treatment as mine is.

It was around three before I was home and I was exhausted. I had some lunch, sat in my chair, had some supper and sat in the chair downstairs doing a bit of knitting. I certainly didn’t have that wired feeling I usually get and was still feeling tired at bedtime. I decided to go to bed and see what happened; I figured if all I got was a nap it would be better than staying up all night. I was awake every couple of hours but I was always able to get back to sleep and I stayed in bed until seven this morning. I’m feeling good today and still have lots of energy.

Just another effect of the treatment – but at least this time it is a pleasant one.