5 September 2023
I had one of the most enjoyable evenings last night at the Pillars Hotel and Secret Garden restaurant with great friends, tasty cocktails, and a wonderful Thai dinner prepared by Chef Hammi.
It was a little too warm for outside dining and on the recommendation of Yelena, our server, we agreed to inside dining. We had agreed to meet for cocktails at 5 pm and we requested Yelena, our go-to person at Secret Garden. She mixes some great drinks. We always like to hang out in the lobby for pre-dinner drinks.
Over the years, we’ve gotten to know Yelena quite well and Holley wanted to do something special for her so when she saw a flower vendor along Sunrise Boulevard, she purchased a dozen roses. We haven’t seen Yelena nor have we been to the Secret Garden since before March of this year. Yelena was taken aback by the flowers and kept mentioning how no one ever brings her flowers. They were a definite hit with her.
On Mondays, Chef Hammi does a prix fixe menu and tonight was Thai.
Among the five of us, we managed to hit every item on the menu. As usual, it was excellent. I believe this is the best restaurant in Broward County. It has everything: ambience, great food, and great service. We sat down to dinner around 6 pm and didn’t leave until around 9 pm. Yelena kept telling us to take our time and stay as long as we wanted.
On top of all that, when it came time to settle the bill, Yelena compted us with a bottle of very expensive Reserve Chardonnay. She told us that she gets to do that about once or twice a year and she wanted to do that for us.
By the time we left, the sun had set and you can see the type of view you get when you sit outside and look over the New River and Intracoastal Waterway.
Once I got home, I turned out the lights around 10:00 pm and found myself wide awake at 3:30 am. I seem to be setting a pattern here on chemo infusion days. Subconsciously, I seem to be a little anxious so maybe I need to take advantage of the Xanax prescription and take one the night before chemo treatments. At least, since I got up so early, I may be able to get my morning walk in before I have to head to the cancer center.
7:00 am
I did manage my walk down Riverland Road. It was pitch black but I met three couples out for a stroll. By the time I got back to the house, dawn was breaking.
I had a little time to kill but when it reached 8:30 am, I left the house for the cancer center and made it a little after 9:00 am for a 9:15 check-in. The waiting room was packed. I think most of those waiting were not going for infusions. Stephanie is my nurse today and she said they start infusions at 8 am and are now thinking of starting them at 7:30. I suspect Holy Cross is getting popular as a place for chemo.
I always watch nurses’ processes when getting things ready for my infusion. Stephanie was meticulous and I told her she had excellent axenic technique. She’s thinking of going for her masters in nursing but hasn’t decided what particular specialization.
10:05 am
I’m waiting for the results of my blood test. From there, they’ll determine if I need anything other than the Taxol infusion. The last two infusions they have given me magnesium and for the hydration infusion, they did the same.
10:17 am
The first test results are in. For the CBC with Auto Differential, my white blood cell count is high, my red blood cell count is low, hemoglobin and hematocrits were low, neutrophils relative high, lymphocytes relative low, and neutrophils absolute high.
10:39 am
For the Comprehensive Metabolic Panel, my glucose was high (240). Otherwise, everything else was normal.
My magnesium level was also low again, so I suspect I’ll be getting another dose of that.
Stephanie added the pre-infusion drugs: Zofran for nausea, Benadryl (nausea), Pepsid to coat the stomach and Dexamasone (steroid). After the Taxol, she’ll administer the magnesium. I’m also getting a saline solution which should help with my dehydration (magnesium deficiency is the key).
I did ask if I could get a prescription for Imodium. I bought six packs of 24 at Walgreens (their brand) and it was BOGO. That ran to over $60. If I can get a prescription, my insurance will probably cover it at a much reduced cost.
11:40 am
Stephanie began the Taxol infusion. It’s on slow so it’ll take about 1 1/2 hours. If I don’t have any adverse effects this infusion, the next infusion of Taxol will take around 1 hour. Progress! It’s also a good thing I had the dental appointment changed to yesterday instead of today at 3 pm otherwise I would not have made it. These infusions make for long days.
Noon
Danielle, the nurse practitioner in charge of the floor, came by and suggested upping the number of times I take Lomotil to the same frequency I take Imodium. She’ll write a script for Imodium and Dr. Velez will renew the script for Lomotil. That way insurance will cover both.
1:24 pm
The Taxol finished in 1 hour and 34 minutes. Stephanie is now rigging the IV for magnesium. She said my level was very low and I’m to get the full bag and that will take two hours (2 grams/50 ml).
You learn something new every time you visit. Today I learned there is not one bathroom in the infusion center but three! That’s a very important tidbit of information considering how often I have to go pee with these infusions. All three are on the same side of the building. Out of four visits to the infusion center, I’ve been in the east wing (with the bathrooms) twice and in the west wing twice. It’s not really an imposition because the farther I have to walk the better. At the moment, there are two bathrooms on either side of me in cubicle 4D so I feel pampered. Of course, one of the bathrooms doesn’t have hand towels. That particular room has a sign that says “Flush twice.” I’ve read that on some of the paper instructions they pass around but the sign is only in that one room. I’m sure the idea is the chemicals infused are so toxic that the aerosol from the flush is hazardous to people.
For example, Stephanie has just been in a regular (albeit stylish gray) uniform all day until she hooked me up to Taxol when she put on a gown. That tells you something.
I’ll probably stop at the grocery store on the way home. I need some fruit and I’m running low on Blue Bell ice cream. Maybe that’s why my glucose hit 240 today. That and the steroid will probably make it go higher. Again, I figure I need to eat what I want to eat and worry about the details later.
Looks like I’ll get out of here around 4-4:15 pm. That’s eight hours of infusions. Who knew it could be so tiring. Sadly, the Benadryl did not put me to sleep. I suspect I’ll take a Xanax tonight to make sure I do sleep and hope for no hangover. They have not scheduled me for a hydration infusion but I’ve had almost a liter of saline which they would do for a hydration infusion. They also have not mentioned any injection to boost my immune system so they are probably satisfied with the results.
Now, on to the grocery store! Stay tuned!