Chemo #2 done

The last few days have been pretty busy - or rather I have been dragging Husband out of the house every day to get him walking. Have not been taking him walking OUTSIDE - it is too hot and too tiring for him... instead we have been going to various shopping malls. It is airconditioned, we can wander at a comfortable pace, and when he gets tired, we go sit down at a cafe or coffee shop or restaurant and have a drink and (depending on what time it is) a meal. On Thursday we were at Ikano Power Centre (where IKEA is) and, would you believe, we wandered around there for more than 3 hours!! Then, in the evening, went over to PJ, to our house there, to meet my brother-in-law (who is a doctor) for him to take out the sutures from the plastic surgery site on Husband's back. He managed to get all the sutures out EXCEPT FOR ONE. We can't find the knot to cut. It is well hidden under the flesh which has joined back nicely... sigh... He will try again in a few days time.

Apart from that, yesterday was chemo#2. We left home at 10am, and were in Melaka city centre (where the hospital is) by 12.15pm. Registered, went straight to the lab, and they took 2 vials of blood from Husband to run a series of tests. The oncologist wants the same tests conducted every single time we go for chemo, so he can track kidney function, blood stats, etc, to be sure that everything is normal. So far, so good - except, of course, for the cancer marker which is still high. The doc did say that he did not expect it to start going down till after the 3rd or 4th chemo at the earliest.

Met my brother and sis-in-law for lunch at the hospital - canteen food, not too bad - and then relaxed for a while in my brother's clinic while waiting for 2pm when the oncologists clinic would re-open (all the clinics are closed from 1 - 2 pm for lunch). We were at the oncologists clinic promptly at 2pm, but had to wait till close to 3pm before they could start on Husband, as there were quite a lot of people there for chemo that day. The procedure is - first they take the weight of the person. Based on the weight, they will calculate the drug dosage required, and then it is mixed in a special machine, then they connect it up to the patient via an IV. I have to say - Thank God we decided to have the chemo-port implanted, it makes it so much easier to have the IV connected - no need to poke and prod trying to find veins to connect the IV to. Also, since the chemo-port leads directly to the heart, the chemo is delivered directly to the whole body each time the heart beats. A very 'efficient' method of delivery.

Anyway, all done by around 4.45pm, then Husband sat for a while with my brother and sis-in-law, and had a drink and biscuits so that he could take pain killers before heading home (so that his back pain would not be too unbearable). Left the hospital around 5.45pm, and we were home just after 8pm. The pain killers take about an hour to kick in, so the first part of the journey was really tough on him.

What was worse was that, as we left Malacca, while we were still in the 90km speed limit zone, I was driving in the middle lane, at 95km/h, when this AS****E bus driver, in a passenger bus, came right up behind me and started flashing at me to move. I mean - if he wanted to overtake, why could he not go into the right lane and overtake? There were no other vehicles in the right lane - so what was his problem?? On top of which, how fast was he driving, in the 90km zone, that he was going to overtake me when I was driving at 95km? Finally he swung out into the right lane and immediately swung into the middle lane trying to force me off the road! We just got to the 110km zone at that point, so I accelerated and passed him again. I was in the middle lane still, holding steady at 115km/h, and then next thing you know, he accelerated all the way, came up the LEFT lane to overtake me from the LEFT - and my Husband got a picture of the driver making a rude gesture at us (!) - and then the AS****E tried to force me off the road again, so I had to drop back. In the meantime, he got in front of me in the middle lane, and slowed down... so I tried to overtake from the right lane, and he immediately swung his bus into the right lane to try and either slam into my car or force me off the road, so I had to drop back again. I waited until 2 cars came up on the right lane, with enough space in between them for me to cut in between, and that was the only way I could pass him..... He did not try and catch us again after that - I dont know whether he came to his senses or his passengers squashed him, or what... but the rest of the journey was peaceful.

All this happened around 6.15pm, at the 214km mark. The bus company was HTC Travel Services (M) Sdn Bhd, the bus number was either 2168 or 2618. IF THIS IS THE QUALITY OF DRIVER THEY HAVE THEN IT IS NOT A BUS COMPANY THAT I WOULD EVER CHOOSE TO TRAVEL WITH... and in case you are wondering - he was a middle-aged CHINESE man!! Obviously suffering from a bad case of PMS. He WAS BLOODY DANGEROUS. IT WAS SCARY - and it took us both time to catch our breath after that.

Anyway, we did get home safe and sound! Took me some time to label the pill dispenser correctly and sort out all the medication. I have one of these 7-day pill dispensers, and I use 6 of the 7 compartments for just ONE day worth of pills for Husband. Mind you, that is only for the first 3 days. After that it drops to 4 compartments "only" :-). And it isn't a case of just one or two pills in each compartment...

- for days 1, 2, 3: compartment #1 has 1 pill; compartment #2 has 8 pills - which includes 2 pain killers; compartment #3 has 5 pills; compartment #4 has 8 pills (2 are painkillers, again); compartment #5 has 5 pills; compartment #6 has 2 pills (2 painkillers again).
- then from day 4 to day 10: compartment #1 has 7 pills, of which 2 are painkillers; compartment #2 has 2 pills, both are painkillers; compartment #3 has 5 pills, and compartment #4 has 2 pills, both are painkillers....

Today has been a very quiet and peaceful day. Some tidying up of things - particularly in the store room. Husband has made an Irish stew (lamb) for dinner :-).

That's it for now. So, have a good weekend everyone! And, remember... stay safe, stay HEALTHY!