Yesterday started with ups and downs, literally. The first stop is always the Concierge Desk in the lobby where you announce yourself and they hand you your itinerary for the day. Instead of going downstairs for radiation where we expected to begin, Pete was told to report to the 6th floor, the chemo ward. Once there, however, they told us we were to report to the 8th floor, where the doctors' offices are located, to see Dr R, so up we went. When Pete told the receptionist that we were there to see Dr R she seemed as confused as we were because Dr R's office is on the 11th floor. She told us to just sit there and wait and it wasn't too long before Dr R got off the elevator and asked us what we were doing there. When we told him we were sent there to wait for him, he told Pete to go down to the first floor to phlebotomy to have his blood drawn, so down we went. Pete no sooner walked into the lab when Dr R got off the elevator and asked us (Gina and I) where Pete was. I told him he was in the lab and he said to go down to radiation for his treatment after the blood draw and then up to 11 to meet with him.
It was A with whom we actually met and spoke with in the end. She said that his numbers should hit their nadir "tomorrow" (meaning today) and that she was ordering blood work. With that we headed back to the condo but got caught in a snarl of cars, trucks and buses just before the Lincoln Tunnel. It took about 20 minutes to travel 500 feet.
This morning, while we watched the morning news, sipping our coffee until it was time to leave for the city, Pete suddenly experienced a nose bleed. About 15 minutes later, he had a second nose bleed. Definitely something to mention once he got to the Cancer Center.
We left the condo prepared to head home for the holiday weekend as soon as Pete's treatments were finished. His appointment was for 10:15 and though we thought we had left with time to spare, the traffic going in was horrid and we didn't actually get there until about 10:30. Once again, the schedule Pete received at the Concierge Desk was a bit confusing. It had an appointment for chemo on the 6th floor scheduled to begin at 8:30 and radiation at 10. Up to the 6th floor we went and found the nurses there as confused as we were. So glad we weren't the only ones.
If Pete was going to get chemo he would need blood work and an IV line so the nurses quickly called for someone from the phlebotomy lab to come up to assist with accessing Pete's vein. Before he arrived, they got word from Dr R's office that all he needed was a finger prick for the CBC, so the phlebotomist pricked his finger with a needle similar to what you would find on a glucose meter. He squeezed Pete's finger and placed a very thin tube against the drop of blood. The tube fed into a tiny test tube-like container. He continued to almost "milk" the blood from Pete's finger until it filled the container. I'd guess that it wasn't much more than 1 ml total.
Once that was finished we went down to the basement for his radiation treatments. When those were finished he had a meeting with the radiation oncologist who explained that he is getting "whole brain" radiation with the exception of the area that had been previously radiated during the tomotherapy last January. We then went up to meet with Dr R on the 11th floor.
The nosebleeds were most likely the result of his low platelet count at this particular point in the chemo cycle. His counts are probably at their lowest right now and should begin to rebound in the next day or two. With the holidays and the blizzard playing havoc with scheduling, they are hoping that he will be getting his new portacath early next week, but the exact day has not yet been established. We all wished each other a Happy New Year and with that done, Pete, Gina and I were in the elevator and finally on our way back home.
May we all experience a New Year that brings happiness, health and peace.
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