I passed! Round five underway...

So, I'm writing this from my chemo chair having passed my blood test a week after my fail. I'm pleased to announce that I'm at the low end of normal blood counts. Normal Neutrophyl counts are anywhere from 2.1 to 7.3. When I failed last week I was at 0.9. I've tested as low as 0.7. Yesterday, when I passed, I was at 2.5.

And so I sit here in my recliner, feet up, laptop on lap. Sparkling water and cup of tea by my side. Cosy socks on and patchwork blanket over my knee's. There are five chairs in our chemo suite, all kind of pushed together as space is tight. I'm always the youngest person here.

Chemo day typically runs like this (times may vary);

9am - Start dragging my feet at home and looking for jobs to do that will make me late to chemo (like take out the garbage or put on the washing or cuddle the kids for a while or check my email).
9:20am - Now officially having dilly dallied long enough to ensure I am late, I leave the house and fritter away some more time getting out my bike. Go back inside to find hat. Check email again. Load up bike and begin riding.
9:30am - When I should be at the hospital, I instead stop by Adelaide's school to drop off a note and chat with the secretary.
9:40am - Arrive at the chemo suite at the hospital ten minutes after my appointed time. I begin every session with the same apology for being late. The nurses are always gracious and understanding.
9:50am - The nurse hooks me up to an IV. This is connected to the port that is implanted just below my collarbone. I hate the look of my port and hate the knee-jerk sensitivity I have whenever the kids get near it. I love my port when I see the trouble that some fellow chemo patients experience as nurses try to access veins in their hands. Mine is a simple 1-2-3 - poke. For other people it may take several attempts before the nurses are 'in' the veins.
10:00am - The infusion begins. Today I had twenty minutes of intravenous Dexamethasone to help with nausea. I then have a half hour of intravenous Bendryl in case I have an allergic reaction to the chemo. And finally I will have the chemo drug. Today it will take three hours to infuse.
2:00pm-ish - After a four hour visit I get to peddle home. Usually I'm pretty tired, both from absorbing a new poison and the mental weirdness of it all that drains my brain.

We'll see how this one will impact my body.

On a more fun note, a Pro of having had chemo delayed is being able to stay in Atlin for the weekend with my Angel Hayley. We skied and hiked Monarch Mountain; admittedly I was quite slow at the hiking but Hayley was gracious enough to not make it look like I was holding her back.

And we saw my first Crocus. Hayley laughed at my excitement, but come on you guys, The First Crocus!!

And now the Bendryl is making me dozy so I'll sign off to nap. Hopefully I don't snore.