June is Immunotherapy Month!

Who knew? LOL! It seems like there is something to celebrate every single month of the year! There's absolutely nothing wrong with that!

Sad Facts About Lung Cancer

When I was first diagnosed with cancer back in October 2012, no one expected me to live very long. Stage IV lung cancer is pretty deadly. The following facts are from the American Cancer Society's Web site about lung cancer in 2015:

• About 221,200 new cases of lung cancer (115,610 in men and 105,590 in women)
• An estimated 158,040 deaths from lung cancer (86,380 in men and 71,660 among women)

Lung cancer accounts for about 27% of all cancer deaths and is by far the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women. Each year, more people die of lung cancer than of colon, breast, and prostate cancers combined. 

The later the stage of the cancer, the more likely it is that you will not survive even a year. Only 4% of those diagnosed with late stage (aka distant or metastisized) cancer are expected to live five years after diagnosis. The following information is copied from the American Lung Association:

Survival Rates

•  The lung cancer five-year survival rate (17.8%) is lower than many other leading cancer sites, such as the colon (65.4%), breast (90.5%) and prostate (99.6%).
• The five-year survival rate for lung cancer is 54.0 percent for cases detected when the disease is still localized (within the lungs). However, only 15 percent of lung cancer cases are diagnosed at an early stage. For distant tumors (spread to other organs) the five-year survival rate is only 4.0 percent.

• Over half of people with lung cancer die within one year of being diagnosed. 

http://www.lung.org/lung-disease/lung-cancer/resources/facts-figures/lung-cancer-fact-sheet.html 

If you let yourself think about it much, it will scare the living daylights out of you! According to Lung Cancer Alliance, 432 individuals die of lung cancer every single day.

Funding .... Or Lack Thereof

Before I step off of my soapbox, I need to address the sad lack of funding for lung cancer. It makes my blood boil. It should make everyone's blood boil. Since lung cancer is the third most common (behind breast and prostate) and the most deadly cancer there is, it is bound to impact your life either directly (you get diagnosed yourself with it) or indirectly (someone you love gets diagnosed with it).

When someone hears a person has lung cancer, the first question is not, "Will they survive?" Nope, the question everyone asks is, "Oh, do they smoke?" Because we all know that (1) lung cancer only happens to smokers and (2) all smokers deserve to die of lung cancer because they brought it upon themselves. Right?

NO!!!!

Let's look at some facts. These are for 2015; they are not old and outdated.

In 2015, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 157,499 men and women will die of lung and bronchus cancer. (I realize this number differs slightly from what the American Cancer Society estimates. I do not know why the numbers are different, but they are both estimates.) During the same time, 52,028 people are expected to die from colorectal cancer, 41,557 women from breast cancer, 38,797 from pancreas cancer, and 27,245 men from prostate cancer.

Despite common belief, lung cancer affects never-smokers, too. And, in 2015, 28,192 of them are expected to die from the disease.

The fact is that only 20.9% of those diagnosed with lung cancer are active smokers. Nearly 18% (17.9%) have never put a cigarette to their lips. And, 60% are former smokers. Some of those former smokers have not smoked for 40 or more years. (These stats come from the CDC report, "Cigarette Smoking Among Adults - United States, 2006".) So much for the fact that only smokers get lung cancer.

The federal government devotes billions of dollars to health issues. Funding for cancer is estimated to be $5,414,000,000 in 2015. Of that, $255 million will be dedicated to lung cancer.  That amounts to a measly $1,153 allocated for each person expected to be diagnosed with lung cancer. Per death (158,040) from lung cancer, $1,619 is allocated.

By contrast, a total of $685 million is expected to be designated for breast cancer projects. According to the American Cancer Society, a whopping 231,841 individuals (mostly women, but men also get breast cancer) will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer during 2015.  An additional 60,290 will be diagnosed with carcinoma in situ (the very earliest stage of breast cancer). Of all of those diagnosed, a total of 40,290 are expected to succumb to their breast cancer. The federal government is spending $17,002 in 2015 for every death that will occur from breast cancer.

Prostate cancer is the second most prevalent cancer in the United States. In 2015, the American Cancer Society expects that 220,800 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer. It is expected that 27,540 men will perish from their prostate cancer. The federal government is expected to spend $255 million on prostate cancer (the exact same amount as being spent on lung cancer) in 2015. For every death from prostate cancer in 2015, Uncle Sam is spending $9,259.

Let's look at this again:

Breast Cancer                        40,290 deaths                          $17,002 allocated
Prostate Cancer                   27,540 deaths                         $   9,259 allocated
Lung Cancer                        158,040 deaths                         $   1,619 allocated

Does anyone else wonder why the disparity?

But, I digress. This post is about Immunotherapy.

Immunotherapy - A Life Giver

If one must be diagnosed with cancer, this is not a bad time. Scientists and researchers are on the brink of making astonishing discoveries. More strides are being made now than in previous decades. Exciting strides!

Immunotherapy is a treatment that allows a person's own body to attack cancer cells. According to the Cancer Research Institute, immunotherapy "represents the most promising new cancer treatment approach since the development of the first chemotherapies in the late 1940s."

Yes!! I agree!! Having been put through the horrors of chemotherapy, I can attest that immunotherapy is exciting. For anyone wishing to learn more about immunotherapy, a good place to start is the Cancer Research Institute.

http://www.cancerresearch.org/cancer-immunotherapy/what-is-cancer-immunotherapy

When I was first diagnosed with lung cancer, I started a chemotherapy protocol of Carboplatin, Avastin, and Alimta. Avastin is not technically chemotherapy. It is a drug designed to starve tumors of blood supply (anti-angiogenic therapy). Alimta and Carboplatin are both chemotherapies that attack tumors, but also affect healthy cells. They are basically poisons. The hope is that they do more damage to cancer cells than healthy cells.

I can't begin to describe what it is like to go through chemotherapy. I would get my infusions on a Thursday. By Saturday, I was in bed, except for when I had to be up throwing up. For two or three days, I would be so sick, I could just barely move. No anti-nausea medicine worked. On top of the extreme nausea, a fatigue that cannot be described set in. It was difficult to walk from the couch to the restroom or to the refrigerator without resting.

You gradually begin to feel better. By the end of the second week after the infusion, I could make myself, through sheer will power, go to agility practice. This is a testament to just how much I love agility! By the third week, I was feeling pretty good, considering.

Toward the end of the time that I received my chemo infusions, I was starting to get very depressed. It seemed so futile to finally feel better just to knowingly make myself sick again with yet another infusion. I am afraid that if the infusions had lasted much longer, I would have either quit them or would have had to take anti-depressants.

And, the fact is, I was healthier than most who were getting chemotherapy. My blood tests remained perfect throughout my treatments. Most people, at the least, have their white blood cell counts tank. No one really knows why mine didn't. My blood pressure also stayed in the normal range.

Since you are being infused with poison when you are getting chemotherapy, you can only get it for so long before the benefits are outweighed by the drawbacks. Chemo itself can (and does) kill cancer patients. As noted by the World Journal of Clinical Oncology:

Over the past few decades, platinum based chemotherapy is the standard of care for advanced stages of NSCLC. These systemic therapies have significant toxicities and confer unacceptable morbidity.

My tumors responded well to the chemo treatments. They shrank by half or so. But, as soon as the chemo stopped, the tumors took off. They were back to their initial size in a matter of weeks.

My oncologist told me that I basically had two options. I could either (1) undergo a different kind of chemo, one that historically made people sicker and was less successful than the first treatment I received, or (2) I could get into a clinical trial and at least help researchers understand some of the new and coming treatments for lung cancer patients in the future.

I didn't think for a second about the choice. I opted for participation in a clinical trial. I had no desire to be sicker than before! And, if I was going to die, I might as well be a guinea pig for those coming behind me. I really didn't think much about the clinical trial affecting ME positively.

Nevertheless, the best thing that has happened to me during this cancer journey was the decision to participate in a clinical trial. Few choose this route. I'm astonished by that. I would more than likely be dead if I had chosen to just continue with the traditional treatments.

I started immunotherapy treatments in July 2013. Information about the trial I am participating in can be found at https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01673867?term=BMS-936558+Docetaxel&rank=2 and http://news.bms.com/press-release/opdivo-nivolumab-first-pd-1-inhibitor-demonstrate-superior-overall-survival-versus-sta. Unlike chemo treatments, immunotherapy does not poison you, so the treatments never end (unless they quit working). Because immunotherapy isn't poisonous, you don't suffer the horrid side effects of chemotherapy. Or, I haven't. Some people don't have quite the same positive reaction that I have, but many do.

I have been getting immunotherapy for nearly two years now. I get treatments every two weeks. I have CT scans every 6 weeks (so often, that I can now drink barium without gagging).

Like when I was getting chemotherapy, my blood tests have remained perfect throughout the treatments. Blood pressure and oxygen levels have stayed in the normal range. The only side effect from the immunotherapy that I have suffered is that my thyroid has quit working properly. No big deal. I just take Levothyroxin every morning to keep the thyroid functioning as it should.

The CT scans have shown that the tumors have not grown nor spread at all since I began immunotherapy. One radiologist who reads the scans calls the tumors "scars." My oncologist does not necessarily agree that they are simply scars. Since we don't know for sure, we continue the treatments. At the least, it is an insurance policy against the lung cancer.

Because of immunotherapy, I have totally reclaimed my life. I am back to running agility regularly. I keep testing my stamina levels and I keep passing those tests!! WhooHoo!!

As you have seen from my previous blog posts, I started a garden for the first time ever. I go to the movies and out to eat with friends. My calendar rarely has a day without something scheduled to do.

No one knows how long the immunotherapy will continue to work. But, from what researchers know now, patients do not build up a resistance to it like they do to targeted therapies. In addition, it appears that the immune system continues to work against tumors for an extended time even after treatments end.

Immunotherapies are being tested on all kinds of cancer. The Cancer Research Institute (CRI) shows how it is working on their site at http://www.cancerresearch.org/cancer-immunotherapy/impacting-all-cancers. The following quote is from the CRI:

From the preventive vaccine for cervical cancer to the first therapy ever proven to extend the lives of patients with metastatic melanoma, immunology has already led to major treatment breakthroughs for a number of cancers. Every cancer type is unique, though, and immunology and immunotherapy are impacting each cancer in different ways.

In the future, those diagnosed with cancer may never have to go through the horrors of chemotherapy. Perhaps even surgery and radiation can be avoided through the use of immunotherapy. And, the death rates from cancer may decline sharply.

Let us hope!

P. S. If you have cancer and you are interested in immunotherapy, you can find out what trials are available by visiting the Clinical Trial Finder.

In the middle of difficulty, liesOpportunity

"You can cut all the flowers, but you cannot keep Spring from coming." 

Albert Einstein once said, "In the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity." I believe that. Do you?


The fact is that while I would never choose to have cancer, it has presented many opportunities for which I am very grateful. Isn't that something?

My motto has been and continues to be, "I have cancer, Cancer doesn't have me." What's that mean?, you ask. Well, it means that I try hard not to be defined by cancer. I try to live my life to the fullest.

In fact, in my way of thinking, every moment I spend worrying or fretting over having cancer is a moment where cancer wins this battle. It robs me of my joy for that length of time. I don't know how much time I have left here on this earth (none of us do). But, what I know is that I want to make the most of every moment that I'm here!

Cancer has allowed me the opportunity to finally concentrate on me, not on everyone else around me. I always worked a job or two and put 110% of myself into it. With family obligations taking up the remaining hours in the day, there was just never really any time left over for Donna.

But, having cancer allowed me to quit working. What a blessing that was, especially since my job had gone from good to very, very bad with changing regimes. Politics. Aren't they great? (NO!!!) For the first time in my adult life, I have had the time to do things that make me happy. And I have enjoyed that to the max!!!

You probably have already figured out what those things are that make me happy.

I'll just state right at the beginning, my joy comes from the Lord. He is the reason for my happiness. He is the reason I do not worry about dying or about having cancer. He is the reason I can enjoy all of the activities listed below. Without the peace I have from Him, none of the rest of this would be possible.

Agility

I love, love, love agility. I found this sport late in life. I had really only just gotten started in it when I found out I had cancer. Barney and I were trialing nearly every weekend and sometimes Cotton came along! (She got to come along more often then than now ... the one bad thing about this retirement stuff is that my income decreased by two-thirds. I have to be much more frugal than I used to be ... talk about a hard lesson!!)

Barney was then and is now a superb agility partner. That little dog has a huge heart. He will play with me, over and over and over again, until I can't go any longer. He tries so hard to please. Always, his goal is to make me happy. Because if mama is happy, everyone is happy! Seriously, he loves agility, but mostly he loves me and he wants to do what pleases me.

I was initially taught that running agility meant running alongside your dog, directing him or her to do whatever the next obstacle in the sequence was. Many venues require that you stay fairly close by your dog in order to direct him over the obstacles correctly. My venue of choice, NADAC, is a little different. It allows you to work away from your dog.

Running your dog with distance between you and him is a completely different way of handling. My personal belief is that it is more difficult to teach your dog to run without you right beside him. It is especially challenging when the dog has first been taught to work right beside you.

Barney and I are in the process of learning to work at a distance from one another. I practiced my new skills some at the Run As One trial over the Memorial Day weekend. The video above shows our runs from Sunday of the three day trial.

Practicing our newly learned skills at distance (we are still very new in the learning process) is only part of what made me smile at the Memorial Day trial. The other is that I had the stamina to go help set-up for the trial on Friday, run four runs on Saturday, return Sunday morning for three more runs, finish with three runs on Monday ... and stay to help tear down and load up all of the equipment. Previously, I had only tried to trial one day for fear of being too tired the following day. REmarkABLE!!! I am so blessed.

Gardening

I wish I had a dollar for every time Robert suggested I start a garden. I always refused. I was just not interested. Then, this spring, I changed my mind. I don't even know why I decided this was the year I wanted to plant tomatoes and cucumbers and squash and zucchini. We have watermelon and cantaloupe and bell peppers. And okra. And something that I no longer remember what it is!!! I can't wait for its fruit or vegetable to appear so I will know just what it is!!

I know nothing about gardening. Like a bull in a china cabinet, my typical way of doing things, I just started buying plants and putting them out in the ground. I STILL know nothing, but I am fortunate that my plants seem not to care all that much.

Here are some pictures I took this morning. I go out and look every single day. I take pictures at least a couple of times a week. Sometimes more often! The little fruits and vegetables are like my babies! I love watching them ... except for an impatient person like myself, it is also a bit of a challenge!

Now that the sun has begun shining again, the 'maters are ripening!

The herb garden. Yum!!!

Zucchini? Squash? Cucumbers? All of the above?

Squash ... some will be ready for picking very soon!

More tomatoes that will soon be ripe enough to pick and eat!

Yellow zucchini. The plant thrived while it rained daily. Not looking so good now.

The bell pepper!!! It will ultimately be a red pepper. There's only one on the bush!

Watermelon. This plant has not always looked as healthy.

My Meyer Lemon Tree. What fun!

Baby lemons!!

I am learning as I go. Next year, I hope I learn from some of my mistakes. I crowded things this year. They looked so small and so widely spaced when I first planted them. Do I hear you laughing???? If you have done much gardening, I am sure you are!

I have been reading that you should plant certain plants with one another ... and shouldn't combine others. Next year, I hope to have an organized plan! This year, I just walked down the rows at Lowe's and chose plants that would produce vegetables or fruit that I thought I might want to eat.

I gave away some of the first fruits of my labor. Carol got a bag with squash, zucchini, and a couple of tomatoes. I plucked a little tomato off of the vine yesterday morning as I was walking out of the backyard to the car. I gave that to Linda. I THINK I am going to have plenty to share. I hope so.

Photography

I guess it is pretty obvious from my blog that I enjoy photography! Having cancer has opened my eyes to all of the beauty that surrounds us. I love to take my camera and just explore the backyard. I NEED to take my camera and explore a little further away than my backyard!! But, for now, I have been content to wander through the yard and take pictures of dogs, flies, bees, flowers, fruits, and veggies ... and an occasional lizard. Hopefully, there will be no opportunities to snap a photo of a snake.

The pictures below were taken this morning. I originally grabbed the camera because I saw the bees inside the flowers of the squash plant. I thought they were certainly worth a few pictures!! As long as I was out there with the camera, I explored a bit more!

I love these delicate little flowers. No clue what they are.

Another little flower that I think is pretty. It is some wildflower that I planted. 

This plant and the one below speak to me. This little weed is growing out of the brick wall!

This petunia came from I don't know where. Like the little flower above, it is growing in a crack in the brick wall. Perseverance. At its best

That frog is lucky it is in the water. Cotton was VERY interested in it!

We have so many of these bugs. I don't know what they are, but they sure like my new garden.

Flies like the garden too. 

I love quotes. I love photography. On occasion, I try to combine the two. These are the bees that initially sent me running for the camera.

Other Interests

My calendar is usually very full. I don't like to have very many days when I don't have something to do. Currently, I have agility class twice on Tuesday and once on Friday. I may have to quit going to the Tuesday night class - it is more traditional agility (where you run right beside your dog) and I don't want to mess up what Barney and I are learning with our distance. We are going to be taking a break from our Friday class as well. It has just gotten too hot. So, for the summer, we will rely on practicing at the park at 7 AM rather than going to class at 10:30.

On days that I don't have agility, I love to meet my friends for lunch and/or the movies. I rarely ever saw a movie before I retired. But, since I have been retired, I have been lucky enough to go to quite a few.

Walks. Linda and I complain nearly every single morning when we meet about how we didn't want to come! We meet at 6:30 AM now that it has gotten so hot. We never want to get up. But, once we are at the park and walking, we're glad we made the effort. The dogs love their walks as well. And, it is so good for us! On days that I don't walk, I usually just waste the time that I would be spending getting some exercise. And, boy oh boy, do I need exercise!!

You should see my Kindle app. I have so many books on there just waiting on me to read them. I keep buying them for those times when I might not feel like doing the things I am doing now. I hope that day doesn't come for a long time. But, when it comes, I'm prepared!!!

Opportunity

So back to the title of this post. "In the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity." Cancer is my difficulty. But, oh the opportunities it has brought with it! If I hadn't been diagnosed with cancer, I would still be plugging along at a job that I had grown to hate instead of enjoying every waking moment! There's just never enough time to get everything done that I want to do! Even now! But, now all of the moments are full of things that I love to do.

Hedonistic? I feel like maybe so. But, I also think that I deserve the bliss I am experiencing now. Not because I have cancer, but because I have worked so very hard all of my life. It is wonderful to have the OPPORTUNITY to work hard at having fun instead of at a job.

A Day at the Hospital

I decided to do something a little different today when I went for my blood draw, doctor visit, and immunotherapy infusion. I thought it might be interesting to somebody if I documented my visit, from start to finish.

I didn't get every picture I hoped to get. My oncologist didn't see me today so I didn't get a picture of him or his precious nurse (who will be leaving any day to have her baby). My favorite oncology nurses had other patients today so I also didn't get any pictures of nurses in the infusion area. Next time, I hope!

We arrived at the hospital at 12:15. We were supposed to be at the hospital by 12:30. You check in at the main desk and wait to be called.

I didn't look at my watch, but I am certain we didn't wait more than 10 to 15 minutes before I was called back to have my blood drawn. At UTSW, the wait is rarely very long.

Accessing the Port

Right after I began treatments at UTSW, I got a port installed in my chest. You can read all about it at http://mybattlewithlungcancer.blogspot.com/2013/08/got-port.html. Unfortunately for me, I received all of my chemotherapy prior to going to UTSW through an IV in my arm instead of getting a port from the get-go. My veins are shot now. You can't have poison infused into your body through those vessels and expect them to stay supple and healthy.

At any rate, with a port, getting blood is easy-peasy. It takes a special oncology nurse to access the port. Some are better at it than others! But, overall, there is very little pain involved and there is NO searching for a vein or sticking you again and again and again trying to get blood to flow.

At every visit, which in my case is every two weeks, a very comprehensive blood test is done. From three to five tube of blood are drawn and tested prior to visiting with the doctor. If your blood levels are not good, the oncologist may decide to put off chemo or might change the amount of chemo. In my case, there has never been a problem. I am often heard saying that if I didn't have cancer, I would be as healthy as a horse.

There are several nurses who draw blood through a patient's port, but I usually get Grace. We hit it off from the get-go. I love to see her every two weeks and I think the feeling is mutual.

We both have to wear masks while she accesses my port in order to reduce the chance of infection. I hate wearing the mask. My glasses always fog up while I'm trying to talk!

Below, you can see the needle that Grace is going to use to access my port. It is rather large!

It only takes a few minutes to get my port accessed and the blood drawn. Because I really like Grace, we often visit for a few more minutes before I return to the waiting room. You can see all of the tubing attached to the port. When I go for my infusion, it will be administered using this access point. Notice the pink circle on my sweater. Any guess what that is for?

Believe it or not, people were leaving the hospital with their ports still accessed. The pink dot is supposed to alert hospital personnel that my port is still accessed. I personally can't imagine someone leaving the hospital with all of that tubing sticking out of their chest, but that's just me. Chemo brain, perhaps, makes some people forget.

Back in the Lobby

 I don't know why, but this man felt special to me from the beginning. You see all kinds (including crazy kinds like me) at the hospital. This precious man seemed to lack confidence and had something wrong that caused him to shake violently. Another patient offered to open his lunch after he fumbled with it for a few minutes.

As it turns out, I ended up feeling so sorry for the man. It seems his wife is the one with cancer. I don't know if she turned mean after she was diagnosed, if she was having a really awful day, or if she's always been mean. She yelled at the man (loud enough that we could all hear it) for not sitting up straight and then for shaking while eating. Hello?! He obviously had a physical problem that caused the shaking. Now, it is possible that his shaking is worse when she is around. If she was MY wife, her being near would make me shake. Violently.

When they came to get her to take her back to see the doctor, the man still wanted to be supportive. He asked if she wanted him to come along. She rudely told him she didn't care one way or the other. So, he went with them, trailing behind a bit. But, long before they would have reached the doctor's office, he was back in the waiting room. I guess she decided she cared if he came after all and sent him back to us. I didn't, but I just wanted to hug him.

On a happier note, we have had rain here in Dallas day after day after day. I'm not complaining because we needed the rain desperately. Last year, by the end of April, we had received only 3.93" of rain. This year, we had been blessed with 14.67" and so far, it has rained nearly every day during the month of May. It was exciting to see a break in the clouds while we were in the waiting room. We could see bluish skies and even a hint of sunshine!!

I am a people watcher and I tend to make up stories about the people I'm watching.... Well, this guy looked like a thug to me with his shorts down far below his butt. He also had jailhouse-appearing tattoos all over his arms and neck. I HATE seeing men with their pants worn far below their waists. I really think it is out of place at a cancer-treating facility.

I hate the way the guy dressed ... and if I was a betting woman, I would guess he hasn't been out of prison for all that long. I'll give credit where credit is due, though. His children were very well behaved and he seemed to take an active part in their lives. So, I guess pants worn with the waistband closer to the knees than the hips is not a clear indicator of how a person acts.

I did get a kick out of watching him try to walk when they left. His shorts were so low that he couldn't get a decent stride going. Sheesh. Who thinks that look is cute or macho or whatever? Not old fogie me.

People watching makes the time fly by! Soon, an aide comes to get us to take us to the doctor's office.

Doctor's Office

Things at UTSW move along like clockwork. I hear about others who go elsewhere that have to wait and wait and wait. Not so here. It is very, very rare that we don't get in to see the doctor within an hour after the blood is drawn. The reason for the hour wait is that it takes an hour or so for the blood testing to be completed.

I was hoping I would see the doctor today so I could get a picture with him, but I guess he was too busy. I need to quit referring so many people to him! Maybe he'd have more time to see me!! (I am not honestly complaining. I am delighted that more and more of my friends are seeing him because I hope they have the same luck as I have with him treating them.)

On the other hand, I love Sharon. She is very thorough and we have a GREAT time laughing with one another. My visit usually lasts longer than it probably should because we enjoy the time together.

Sharon wasn't quite sure what was going on until after our selfie was taken! You can tell by her beautiful smile that she's a lot of fun. She's also very smart and very dedicated. She'll take as long as you need her to answering questions and addressing concerns.

My blood tests were fine. My CT scan that was done last week showed that my organs are "unremarkable" - a good thing!!! I have no swelling or lumps. The exam doesn't take too long. Since all is well, the immunotherapy I receive can be ordered from the pharmacy. We return to the waiting room one last time.

Waiting Room Again!

In the lobby, there is a giant Chihuly sculpture. When I first saw it, I hated it. I have grown to love it over time. It is very intricate. What do you think? Love or hate or indifferent? Can anyone be indifferent to such a piece?

We now have to wait for a chemo room to become available. And, for the pharmacy to get the drugs ready.

Robert always comes with me to chemo. It is a long boring day, but he never complains. He doesn't have to come, but it sure makes the day go more smoothly having him with me. I have read of so many couples that break up when one is diagnosed with cancer.  I am so happy that our marriage is probably stronger now than ever before. Which says a lot. In August, we celebrate 41 years of wedded bliss!

Infusion Room

It isn't long before we're escorted back one last time. This time, we are going to the infusion room. Where I received chemo, the infusion room was one giant room where everyone getting a treatment sat in chairs side-by-side. As much as I enjoy people watching, I always hated that room. It was such a big, cold, depressing room, just full of cancer patients receiving poison into their veins. Some people got sick, some slept, some visited ... but it just seemed it should have been done in private.

When I switched to UTSW, I was DELIGHTED to find that we would have individual chemo rooms. Each room is a little different. The one we had today was relatively small ... but certainly big enough to be comfortable. There is a television on the wall across from the infusion chair. The infusion chair itself is very comfortable and I usually request a heated blanket when we get to the room. I love those heated blankets!

The chairs for the visitors are not nearly as comfortable as the ones provided for the patient!

An aide always brings us to the infusion room, retrieves the warm blanket and any requested snacks. I am not sure what this aide's name is, but he is my favorite in the chemo area. He is always so cheerful and he's a hard worker. He wasn't the person who brought me to the infusion room today, but he walked by and saw me in the chair. "Hello, Mrs. Fernandez," he said. I asked him if he'd come take a selfie with me and he obliged!

This is the best picture I could get of how the port looks when it has been accessed and readied for an infusion. In the second picture, you can see how all of the tubing is attached. I think I have already said it, but the port makes getting a treatment much, much easier.

My infusion takes one hour. When I was getting chemo, an infusion could take from two to six hours. I like the one hour treatment much more!! So, my treatment began at just minutes after   3  PM. And I become a clock watcher!

YES!!! It is 4:00 ... the treatment should be over! Most of the drug has dripped into my blood stream. Where is the nurse to disconnect me??

What's going on? Where's the nurse? It is now 4:15 and here we still sit! Typically, the nurse appears immediately when the hour of infusion ends. Something must have taken my nurse's attention today because she was late getting to our room.

It isn't too long, though, before she comes in and prepares me for departure. She has to flush the port with herapin, disconnect the port access, give us a parking pass, and send us on our way. We are soon outside and waiting on the valet to bring our car.

You can't really tell from the photos, but the campus at UTSW is amazingly beautiful and serene. One of these days, I am going to take my good camera and spend an afternoon exploring the grounds.

Rewards

Because chemo day is a long day, we nearly always eat a leisurely breakfast before we go and then treat ourselves to a nice dinner afterwards.

Tonight's treat: Dunston's Steak House.

As we drove into the parking lot at the restaurant, we passed this gorgeous cactus. I wonder if it is because of all of the rain we've had that it is blooming like it is? It was so beautiful that I had to stop and take a few pictures before going in to eat.

It smells divine sitting near the wood-burning grills!

Steaks were cooked to perfection and the baked potato was delicious. A perfect ending to the day!