Life From Here--The Rat Years Pt. 5

I drove to Duke Wednesday (11th) got my blood and vitals checked and met with the Duke Doc. I was in the car longer than I was there. He asked how I felt I said like crap and he said “Good! At least we know it’s doing something”….a fellow after my own heart. Haven’t I said that all along! I’ll know real statistics next week…..but, they’ll say it’s too early to tell.

Tuesday morning I woke up and felt like I had the flu, I had no energy and barely made it off the couch all day. The next morning my Duke appointment was at 8:30 AM so I had to leave at 5:00 AM......Relatively speaking, I felt like a champ! I drove to Durham spent about 4 hours there and then drove back. It’s like that….I’ll feel good one day and like death warmed over the next. I told the head of the clinical trial “there’s no rhyme or reason to this” and she said yes, we've heard that from others.

Despite numerous requests I’m not going to dress up in a hospital gown and hold a pee jug of Rum, Tea, whatever and get a picture made….the verbal visual is enough.  (See last Post)

Believe it or not this drug has made eating more difficult than the chemo. The “Scary Book” they give you lists as one of the side effects “loss of appetite (Anorexia)"…..HUH! Never heard it called that before!.....I’m going to explore hypnotism……there is no physical reason I shouldn’t want to eat…..Hell, I’ve been hungry for 2 years! It’s just an appetite thing. Everything I think of to eat makes me want to barf! I’ve even gone back to the shrimp ordeal (check earlier posts). But I’ll make it work….I have to, I’ve lost nearly 10 pounds since I started at Duke….eating shrimp all day will do that. I keep thinking maybe this a cure for the obese! Instead of surgery…give them chemo!

So far, the level of care at Duke is amazing. Everyone there seems to be so efficient and good at their jobs. The new building has a few kinks I think.

At first I thought it was just me and my personal fog. But I’ve since seen so many people get confused……with the elevators!

The ground floor....valet parking, helping in and out of wheelchairs and walkers, reception desk and traffic circle….is level “0”, level “00” is below ground and where the radiation takes place. Level “1” is like a mezzanine and level “2” is where the sky bridge is that takes you everywhere.
After about the 3rd time of seeing everyone else confused I figured….It’s not just me! Why would they do that?....With all the chemo brains that come in and out of here some architect decides to get cute with the elevator numbers!

This drug makes me a little fuzzy but the Doc said that it’s been shown that the side effects seem to diminish as the drug builds up…….or is that a kind way of saying “you’ll get used to it!”

I once dated a beautiful but not so bright girl (a bar of soap comes to mind) from Alabama.  One day I asked her the time.....she said "When?".......So it goes!

I will go to Duke every Wednesday for blood and vitals but there won’t be much to share until I hear from the Docs what the progress if any will be. I’ll let you know.

Thank you for the Spiritual Light and Prayers. Bob