Thursday 6 December 2012

Fuck up!

5:45am, we're up. Joh has a quick shower, I wash and dress. Simple breakfast of a couple of crumpets and jam, Joh defrosts the car, kiss the kids and tell them how much we love 'em, and we're off to the Christie.
First infusion of chemotherapy today. This is what I've been waiting for since I was diagnosed. All the stories you hear of the side effects of chemo are about to become a reality for me. I've been mentally preparing myself for the last week and a half for this day. An 8 hour infusion of chemo drugs, steroids, fluids and other drugs, all in one sitting. Joh has taken the day off to be with me. I said she didn't need to bother, she could of  dropped me off and gone to work, but she wants to stay. We roll up nice and early, get to reception with 10 minutes to spare for our 8am blood test. I'm scheduled for my drugs at 9:30, so plenty of time.
Bloods are done at 8:20. We go get a coffee while we wait for the blood to be tested and made sure I'm ok to start treatment today. At 9:50 I get a call to report to reception, then asked to go upstairs to the treatment ward on the 1st floor.
A nurse asks us to come into the ward, saying there's been a problem. My first thought was that my bloods are not right somehow?
No, bloods fine, my Doctor has made a "clerical error", or in other words: forgot to put the order in for my chemo drugs.
Some peoples drugs need to be made up on the day of treatment as they have a limited shelf life. If you make them too soon, they'll "go off" and not be effective. Likewise, if you miss an appointment, you wont be able to come in the next day because the drugs will have to be remade. So to ensure you get these type of drugs on time, they need to be ordered the day before your treatment so they are made early on the day of your treatment. This means they are at their optimal. If they're not ordered, it takes over 4 hours to make the drugs up, and a further 8 hours to inject them, so you can imagine how long it would've taken today if they'd ordered the drugs at 10 am.
The nurse is very apologetic. She offers me the chance to go see the Doctor in his surgery. I don't see the point in waiting around any longer just to hear his excuses on why he's not done his job properly. I'm livid, pissed off and just want to leave. On the way out I punch the wall in frustration.
After all the preparation for today, I've been severely let down by the system.

We have a quiet drive back home.

I contemplate a bike ride, have the soup that we'd prepared for the day at the Christie, then have a doze on the sofa while Joh goes out.
It's now raining. I'm not going out riding.
Roll on tomorrow where we'll do it all again, Joh misses her friends wedding because she'll be with me all day, and I can finally start to beat this fucking cancer.

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