Blogging from the cancer center

Thought I would mix things up a bit and do some real-time blogs from the cancer center. I'm here for the end of my 2nd cycle, aka my fourth treatment (2 treatments/cycle). I'll post a few notes over the next 90 minutes or so as I go through infusion.

What's happened so far this morning:

• Susan and I are doing a mtn bike ride tonight with some guys from work so I didn't bike into work today. But I did get in a nice run this morning before the chemo session.
• Did a bit of work from home and then checked in at the cancer center this morning. Temp good, bp good, weight good but my white blood cell count is a bit lower. No change in treatment protocol for now. If it's still low in 2 weeks we'll do a dose reduction. My hemoglobin has stabilized so that's good news.
• My left arm swelling hasn't gotten any worse. I've ridden my bike a bit less in the last couple of weeks and have done a few more runs. Leaning on my handle bars does cause my arm to swell a bit so I've tried to strike a balance between arm health and my love for being on the bike.
• Oncologist did my exam and the tumors in my neck are still shrinking. I'm getting a pet/cat scan in about 10 days. Hopefully that will show that most of the tumors are not active.

Ok, so we're now in the infusion center and waiting to get started. Here's Susan waiting for things to get going:

And me showing four fingers, representing my 4th treatment:

Ok, got the line in ok. Pete is still doing well - good flow.

Now we've started the Adriamycin.  Note how much it looks like Kool Aid:

Dammit! I missed the velban. It went in while I was typing this...

and now the bleo:

No pain, no fuss, no muss! Just hang out and blog while I get shot up with meds that are making me better. Pretty simple stuff, really...