7.24.2007

L's Day Out

With N busy all morning with softball and swimming, J and M away and S off teaching all morning, L decided he'd rather go with me to Tsukiji than sit around home alone until his afternoon swimming so he took the 6 a.m. train with me to Tsukiji. We had seats on both trains all the way and had a little time to go up to the 19th floor of NCC to enjoy the view before I started on my round of blood draws, a consultation, a CT scan, pre-payment of today's bill, shopping for more tea to go with our onigiri (rice balls) and the weekly Herceptin-Taxol IV. He was very curious about all the needles and got to watch all six stabs I got today.

It should have been 3 stabs; one for the blood draw, another for the CT scan contrast and then a final one for the IV. My veins were not cooperative today and the CT scan tech needed 2 tries and and so did the chemo room doctor and then we had to switch the treatment IV after the first Herceptin part as it was leaking outside of the vein which would have been a big problem if it had been the more caustic Taxol. I ended up letting the CT scan tech and the chemo room guy use my surgery side arm to save a few veins in the usual IV arm. This is a no-no in terms of lymphedema (swollen arm) prevention but I figure that the arm has survived without much lymphedema for two years and eight months my arms were covered with tufts of sterile cotton and clear tape by the time we finished.

L borrowed a DVD player and some DVDs from the reception desk and sat at the end of my bed to enjoy "Toy Story" and "A Bug's Life" while I relaxed with my drip. He managed to eat his lunch and snacks without mashing too many crumbs into the sheets and only spent the final ten minutes spinning around and around on a nearby stool out of boredom.

We stopped by at a friend's house on the way back for coffee, conversation, creme brulee, and a book exchange. L was very glad to play with a friend and shyly impressed by the friend's pretty three year old sister. I was glad for a chance to do something social to break up the day. Very refreshing!

On the train on our way home, I heard someone call my name and looked up to see a former colleague sitting across the aisle from us. It was a pleasant surprise to see her after 14 years. She's still working at Sogo (my old company) and had heard of my ongoing treatments from Mrs. K., the boss' wife who came to Chofu for coffee and catching up last month. We re-exchanged phone numbers and said good-bye at Chofu Station where L and I got off to rush home to N.

N did a good job of holding the fort down this afternoon and was rewarded by the arrival of a child sized softball mitt from a kind and generous foreign wife friend in one of my Yahoo Groups (Thank you R). She did take a three hour nap after her morning exertions but it looks like she'll be ready for bed by 8:30 tonight, as will L.

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