Pump Off, Miscellaneous Other Stuff: Monday's chemo session had a couple of snags to it, so instead of getting out of there by 1:00 PM, I was there until 3:30 PM.

The first delay was on my end, so to speak; during the initial port flush before they administer the drugs, the nurse draws back the syringe until they see my blood return, letting them know that the port line that connects to my aorta is clear. This time, despite several efforts,  no blood returned to the syringe; a "scab" had formed on the aorta side of my port. Getting it dislodged and the line cleared with "go-go juice" (the one nurse's term; forgot the actual name of the stuff) took over an hour.

The second delay came in the form of a chemo drip bag being set for the wrong dispense rate (it was a large bag set for the rate of a smaller bag). "This seems to be the bag that never ends", one of the nurses told me before she realized the goof-up. Happened to another patient that morning, too.

So, yes, a long day at the center on Monday. I did have my "plus one" come and visit me during chemo...extra-sweet of her and made the experience pass more quickly than it would have otherwise.

Other than that, I'm feeling like I usually do on a Thursday after treatment: not so grand. I'll feel better by tomorrow.

Some other things rattling around in my brain:

I'd recommend not shaving one's head before a cold front moves into your area; chilly, you might say. It's below freezing now (6:00 PM Thursday) and supposed to get down to 9 degrees overnight on Saturday.

Yes, the baldness still freaks me out a little. The jokes and comments have been hilarious, though: "I feel like I should ask you for a lolly", etc. This comment about the photo in my previous post is my favorite, so far: "Could you have looked any more evil when you took that picture? Were you thinking over your deal with the devil at the time? Can't wait to see you in person. I'll bring some costumes." Personally, I keep thinking that I look like I'm a monocle and a cigarette holder away from looking like a movie super-villain...

Received my temporary medical marijuana card in the mail last week, so I'm officially official. The "real" card is supposed to arrive in two months. I also have a vaporizer now, which is an enormous improvement over the other methods I was using (little smoke, less unpleasant smell and fewer of the stranger side effects). I'm grateful that it helps so quickly with the nausea I've been experiencing, especially this time around.

There's an apparently lost Canadian goose hanging around here outside today. Dad's amused. I'm thinking that it'll probably take off the next time a flock comes by.

That's about it for now...more next week.