And such a long one. Left home yesterday at 9.00 am and got back at 7.30 pm … all for a ten-minute chat with the oncologist and a two-and-a-half hour chemo session. Do the math – that’s a helluva lot of waiting. I’d gone prepared with a book and a Hello magazine, and Nog & I tried staying entertained by playing Fashion Police (not nearly as fun as it had been in the emergency waiting room) as well as playing Hangman and watching some Olympic events on the big tv there, but it was pretty damned tedious nonetheless. On the bright side, I didn’t have to subject myself to cafeteria food . . .

After seeing the oncologist (not my favourite one – this one was actually very unhelpful and wouldn’t answer my questions directly) I made the appointment for the chemo and there was a three-hour gap, so I suggested we walk over to a place near Pipocas’s house (about a 20-minute walk) that I’d been to with her a couple of months ago. And so we were not only able to have quite a delicious lunch for the same price as the cafeteria would have charged, but we had a nice walk and got back to the hospital 15 minutes before the chemo appointment.

montatitos and fried chocos

[Note: mineral water in wine glass – not a sight you’ll see here every day]

This was when the waiting finally got too much. From 1.45 till 4.15 in the fucking waiting room, basically waiting to wait, as that’s pretty much what the chemo session is all about (well, except it hurts more – physically anyhow). So by the time I got set up in the comfy chair it was time to pull out the heavy artillery – my Hello magazine! Which actually turned out to be a disappointment. It’s been a couple of years since I read one and it was not only full of people I didn’t recognise, but it also seemed a lot thinner than it used to be. Also, I discovered it was impossible to read one-handed, and holding it up with both hands cause the IV drip machine to start beeping, so after awhile Nog held it up for me and I let him know when there were any good pics or gossip. But the best part was the Hello Horoscopes! Check mine out (Nog’s was spookily accurate too) . . .

Capricorn
You have had about as much as you can take. You can’t take much more. You are on the edge, at the limit, near the point of collapse. But that’s like saying that you are standing on some glorious balcony, overlooking a ravine. It looks very much as if you could fall over the side. You are certainly very close to that great abyss, yet there is a safety railing. You are not going to jump, nor are you going to be pushed. Learn what you need to learn from this view. But don’t feel afraid of what you are being shown. Soon you will see something else. A clear route to a safe destination.

Finally it was time to go home. And that’ll be that for either three weeks or something like eight-twelve weeks, depending on when they book my liver operation. I was told that if the surgery is going to be in September that they won’t do the next chemo session on September 3rd, in order to give me time to build my strength up. So that’ll mean another fives sessions after I’ve recovered. But it’ll also mean that I’ll be chemo and hospital free while Sara & Steve are here, which would be great.

[image by Cathy Nilon. Check out her website and Chemo Cat book. ]