The Curse of Day 8 Strikes Again!: Thursday, September 3, 2009

Well, I didn't get my Day 8 treatment yesterday but NOT because my WBC and RBC counts weren't good enough. To the contrary, as of Monday, my counts were quite good. No, the reason I didn't have treatment yesterday is because Jan at Dr. E's office forgot to set-up my Day 8 treatment with the oncology unit at INOVA Fairfax, as I would discover during a couple phone calls with both the hospital and Jan around 8 a.m. yesterday morning. True story.

You know, here's the thing: We all make mistakes. I get that. And Jan has a REALLY tough job. But when your health care providers make mistakes, things get really SCREWED UP...and by the way, this is my freakin' life we're talking about here. Because of Jan's "Oops!" I waited around all day (well, not literally but I did keep a phone by my side all day...) anxiously awaiting the call to finally come in, only to learn at about 5 p.m. from the head oncology charge nurse at INOVA that even if I came in that evening when they finally had room for me, I still wouldn't start getting my Taxol until the next morning. So, she asked, "Do you still want to come in to spend the night even I can't get someone to start your drugs until the morning?" Uh, negative Ghostrider. The pattern is definitely full. I avoid a night in the hospital like the much anticipated swine flu.

So, after getting reassurances from the charge nurse that it's okay to get my Day 8 treatment on Day 9 and that it is okay that I took my steroids a full 36 hours before my treatment and that we'd be able to fit in my hydration and Neopogen okay on Friday, I calmed down and accepted the latest plot twist of my treatment. Here's what I want to know though, what does my third and final Day 8 have in store for me if the first two have gone the way they have? And, seriously, how much more fun and games can a girl teetering on the edge of reason take?

Wish me luck today! I think I'm gonna need it...