We arrived at the hospital so early that we were there before the Ward staff - talk about keen. We live on a little island and whilst our hospital is small, it is brand new. We don't have a resident Oncologist - a guy from Liverpool pops over every Thursday and a very nice lady - chief oncology nurse - is in charge whilst he's away.
She made us very welcome and allocated us a small private room off the Oncology lounge. Nice big lounge chair, table, guest chair and windows overlooking the surrounding countryside. Hubby was hooked up to the intravenous bag and given 4 hours of saline (hydration) plus 4 litres of drinking water. This was followed by various drugs for anti-sickness and then on to the real thing. Half hour of Gemcetabine.... more hydration... then 4 hours of Cysplatin to be followed by 4 more hours of saline. By now the small room looked like my hubby's private office - 2 laptops, blackberry, cups of tea and, of course, the cake I'd made. I am making it sound like a piece of cake and it was. I was very surprised. The best part of the day was meeting 'Roy'. He also has a bladder tumour and he was on his last day of chemo. He looked great and told us that apart from a couple of days of feeling lethargic (& a bit grumpy) he had managed it fine. Hearing that was the best boost!
Because of all the hydration and the time it was taking, hubby was put into a ward for the night and I left him watching Murray play at Wimbledon. The call came at 4:30am this morning "Get me out of here!" Luckily, Day 2 of Cycle 1 is next Tuesday and it involves only a short session lasting about 1 hour. Keep you posted.
T
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FormerMember
Hi Shelagh, well we are not so rich but yes, it is like stepping back in time here. The good news is that they took taxes from the very rich and built a nice new hospital so at least that bit of the island is up-to-date.
It was great to hear from Mike - I can't tell you how scary this all is and to hear from someone who has come through it all is so wonderful. It is also wonderful to be able to 'speak' to folk like yourself - it gives you back the faith and courage to look forward.
