Sunshine is Here

We got up early this morning and took a cab to the clinic to begin Jim's second round of chemotherapy. He has had the last week off so hopefully his blood counts had time to recover. It was snowing out and cold. We first met with Peggy, the nurse practitioner. She tried to draw blood from his PICC line but it would not give a return. I think it finally petered out. It has lasted almost 5 months which is a long time. This delayed treatment because Jim now had to go to the lab and wait for a technician to draw his blood. The process before actually getting the chemotherapy takes around 3 hours. They have to wait for the blood work to come back to make sure his counts are high enough to have the treatment, which they were. Then they have to make up the drugs and ship them to the clinic from the main hospital. Lastly Jim has to wait for a treatment room to become available. It is amazing how many people crowd the room waiting for the poison that hopefully will treat their ills. Once the infusion is started it takes 4 1/2 - 5 hours to complete.

While Jim was waiting I walked in the lightly falling snow to get him a coffee at Starbucks, Iced Quad Espresso half-calf in a Venti cup. Then I stopped by the Brazilian bakery to get him a mushroom empanada and a monkey babka, two of his favorites. When I got back they called him to the treatment room. Since his PICC line wasn't working they had to start an IV. Jim's veins are pretty shot from all the chemo over the past two years. Luckily he has good nurses and they take they time looking for the right vein. They put warm packs on his arm to bring the veins to the surface of the skin.

I wore my bracelets today to give us good luck. All my different charms have been given to me by people I love and they each have a different meaning.

The PET scan results will be in soon. Unfortunately it is Friday and Dr. Horwitz had to go out of town. We most likely will have to wait until Monday for the radiology report.

The best part of the day was Sara arrived. She took a cab from Penn Station and I met her back at the apartment. We unloaded her luggage, walked to the post office and then I took her to see Jim. When spent the afternoon in the clinic with him.

The rest of the evening we stayed in the apartment and visited. It is so good to have her here. Tomorrow I hope to take her to Battery Park and the 9/11 Memorial. It's going to be a good weekend.