Infusions and iPads

It’s 1:43pm. I’ve been sitting in the hospital chair since 9 o’clock. After two years, I know the drill.

1. Arrive with bag of snacks and books. And now…iPad.

2. Check-in.

3. Pay co-pay.

4. In somewhat of a good mood, so make funny joke to receptionist.

5. Walk into infusion lab, past the baskets of homemade crocheted hats for the cancer patients, and sit in the same chair (against the far corner, near the bathroom – in case you want to visit next time).

6. Blood pressure? Check. Temperature? Check.

7. One quick prick and I get an IV set up. Steroids first. Then fluids. Then – the reason I’m here – my Rituxan begins dripping.

8. Rituxan takes six long hours to administer. Usually I distract myself for the first four hours. But the last two hours are always hard. I get bored. I get sweaty. I think about all the things I could be doing instead of sitting in this lab.

9. At this point I usually call my husband or best friend and have a brief conversation in which I try not to be snippy.

10. Sooner than I think – happily – my Rituxan bag will be empty, my IV will beep, I’ll get a vein flush, and then….freedom!

11. I walk to the parking garage, rubbing my arm a little, always blinking in the sunlight after so much time indoors.

12. Home for Lotus Cafe Chinese (always on infusion days) and a shower.

p.s. Having an iPad this time really helps the time to fly. Hugh bought me an iPad a FEW HOURS before we found out I’d have to be out of school on medical leave – and we’d be out of my small – but crucial, it turns out – salary.

I have mixed emotions about this….Am I glad I have this toy? OH, YES. Was it the best decision? Well, maybe not. But – as I spend some of my days in a chair receiving vital medication and browsing the App Store for new Apps….I’m okay with it.