The Party Room

 

Monday was chemo day. This was infusion number four on my backward countdown from six to one. Number one, my LAST one, will be at the very end of August.

 

I arrived early (7:20am is early for me!!!) at the RMCC for my blood draw which was taken from my port. During the next hour, they checked my blood to make sure it is built up enough to have another round of chemo before any infusions can begin. At 8:30, I saw my oncologist, Dr. Terstriep, for the first time since I began chemo. Since I had been seen previously by 2 different oncology PA's (physician's assistant) and 2 different oncology CNP's (certified nurse practitioners), I didn't have too many pressing questions. The few I had were answered quickly and easily.

 

 

My infusions started at around 9:15 am. During this infusion, I think I got about seven or eight different bags of "goodies!" The photo above shows the IV pole decorated with my goodies! Only one or sometimes two of the bags are going at the same time. Some, like the big bag, are used a lot.  It may have been being used in this photo or it may have been on standby to be used again later after the drugs were delivered into my port. 

 

 

One of my hats...

 

During my infusion, I get a dose of Benadryl to alleviate some chemo side effects. Benadryl makes me VERY tired and sleepy!!! When I nod off, my wig slips waaaaay down over my nose so breathing becomes a problem. Also, when I wake up and try to see, I think I've become blind from the chemo (haha!) because my eyes are completely covered by my wig!!!!! So, in order to not panic my very sleepy self, I take my wig off and wear a hat. The hats don't slip down as easily and I don't look nearly as goofy as the "drugged up woman with her nose covered by her wig" if I just sleep with my hat on!!!

The blood pressure cuff puffs up every 10 minutes so I shouldn't be able to fall asleep that easily anyway!

 

 

There are no clocks in the chemo rooms, so I always need to check my phone if I want to know about what time of the day it is since I'm there most of the day! If this photo was taken pre-Benadryl, I may have been playing a game or googling something. If it was taken post-Benadryl, I wouldn't remember whatever I was looking at anyway!!!

 

 

Are you wondering why I titled this post "The Party Room?"

Well, at RMCC there are quite a few private rooms which I really appreciate getting if I have to be there aaaaalll day long. However, there were NO private rooms left on Monday so I got put into the "Party Room!" 

 

You'll NEVER guess the reason why the rooms were not available...SUGAR ANTS!!! Yup, those little critters had invaded four of the private rooms so they were waging a "sugar ant war!"  I thought that was very funny!!! 

 

The Party Room is a big room with five to seven spaces/chairs in it for people to get their infusions. My last experience in the Party Room was enough to make me want to run out of there screaming!!!! 

 

For one of my Herceptin treatments, which only take about an hour and a half total, I ended up in the Party Room.  The poor woman in the chair RIGHT next to me had some issues with her mind. Since there were five of us getting an infusion in the Party Room that day, every time ANYONES IV beeped in the room, she would whip the curtain back and yell at me, "You're beeping!!!" Since it never was me beeping, I would kindly try to tell her it was ok and that someone would come to take care of it. Well, after that happened about 17 times, she finally quit that and decided that maybe I wasn't beeping!

 

Next, she turned up her TV so loud, I'm pretty sure they could hear it in the parking lot! There were several other issues too but those two topped it all!

 

So...to the Party Room Katie and I go...again...groan!!! (I was remembering my last Party Room experience!)

 

There are a few curtains which may be pulled occasionally (like when they access your port) but most of the time the curtains are just open. Since I knew the spaces were tight and Katie was with me, we tried to choose the spot that would give us the most space (which didn't really work so well because the spots are TIGHT!!!)  Arland was also there for lunch! My poor nurse really had to be part acrobat to get at all the supplies, drawers, IV pole, etc. that she needed to access during my infusion. However, we made it work!

 

It's just nice to have someone there with you if you're there all day to help pass the time...even though I'm a little goofy half the time because of the Benadryl. Thankfully, Katie accepts my "loonyness" and just puts up with me asking the same goofy questions repeatedly! The Golden Thread for the day was that Katie made the space work and NO ONE whipped back the curtain to tell me that I was beeping!

 

Thanks, Kristi, for uploading these pictures for me again!