Chemo#3

My list of people I will owe big favours to, once this is all over, just gets longer and longer. Big thanks this time go to Lachy for ferrying me to and from the hospital and also to Moira for the chip butty - Champion!!
Got to Crosshouse for 10am and was immediately threatened by Doc G. with an overnight stay if my bloods weren't up to scratch - bloody hell. A nurse promptly turned up and took more blood and sent them down to the lab for emergency analysis. While this was going on the doctors were discussing my poor blood Neutrifil counts and what could be done to alleviate the problem. They have decided to withhold the Bleomycin from my treatment (that's the 'B' in 'ABVD'). Apparently there is a lot of discussion in the medical world whether this drug has any real influence in the treatment of Hodgkin's and is outweighed by the irreversible damage it can cause to the lungs in a lot of people. This is good news as most of the chemo side effects are caused by the Bleomycin - we in the cancer club call them the 'bleo-blahs' - its an exclusive club, the waiting list is huge!!
We also discussed again the amount of treatment I will be getting, for now it is the full 6 months of chemo but if I (or the company-hint hint) can fund a PET scan in Aberdeen in 2 months time and I'm found to be clear, then I could be back at work several months earlier than expected (the NHS will only fund 1 PET scan per patient and only after all treatment is completed). They also hinted I might get zapped with kryptonite for a few weeks after chemo - doh!
Blood test results came back and I'd just scraped in - woohoo, no overnights for this fat lad.
Into the chemo room, stretched out on the recliner, canular into the left wrist this time, infusion commenced at 1300, all done by 1530. Had an alarming moment half way through the treatment when I felt severe abdominal pains. I then realized my belly was being sliced in two by the waist band on my pants - I wouldn't be normally bothered but they're my biggest pair!! What a fat twat. Must stop this weight gain before I end up like Mr Creosote or worse still TFTF - the laughing stock of the offshore industry. Back home on the 1800 ferry.
Gan Canny
'Just when I thought I could not be stopped
When my chance came to be king
The ghosts of my life
Blew wilder than the wind'