Chemo Treatment #12: Accessing My Power Port & Steve Balmer Day

Chemo:         Taxol

Treatment:    #8 of 12 of Taxol

Companions:  Troy Sandal, Sven Liden, and Destiny Bassett

Time:            3:40 p.m.

 

I was lucky enough to have 2.5 companions today.  Sven and Troy, who recently completed the Seattle-to-Portland bike ride this weekend while the rest of us were at Floating Woman, were my men-in-waiting for today’s chemo treatment.  Destiny, who also biked the STP this weekend, walked up to Virginia Mason after work to join us for a bit before she and Sven headed home for a nap (I suspect burning 8000+ calories will do that to you).

 

Troy lives in San Francisco, and the last time he was in town he attempted to accompany me to chemo.  Unfortunately, that was the same trip that landed me in the ER, so he’s never actually seen me receive chemo.  Thankfully, it was that fated trip to the ER that finally started this blog! 

 

Whenever anyone new accompanies me to chemo, I make particular note of the process of “accessing” my Power Port.  You may recall that I had a Power Port (or central line) put in prior to starting chemo to make chemo treatments as easy as possible and so that I wouldn’t have a ton of track marks on my arms from having an IV started for each chemo treatment.  With my tech-savvy men-in-waiting, I was able to video this process to share with you:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttZgtlWH8vE.  Pretty cool, huh?

 

The funniest part of today, however, was when Sven and Troy showed me their new haircuts.  Not only did they join the others who shaved their heads on Sunday at Floating Woman, but they went through extra lengths to insure that I wouldn’t be able to tell they shaved their heads until they were ready to unveil their surprise, sporting a Steve Balmer “do.”  They chose to do the unveiling while Dr. Pinder was in the treatment room with us.  Dr. Pinder was amused, but I think also a bit confused and perhaps even scared by the Steve Balmer dos, and here’s why:

Sven: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28443091@N03/2672931725/

Troy: http://www.flickr.com/photos/28443091@N03/2673750398/ 

Don’t be fooled by Sven’s photo, which makes him look like he may have a mohawk because he’s sitting in front of a mirror.  His haircut is really just as bad as Troy’s.  Thankfully, Troy and Sven fully shaved their heads later that evening so that we would be three bald peas in a pod:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/28443091@N03/2673750502/.  Missing from this photo is Mr. Gary Gould, who also shaved his head for me but who was sweet enough to take the photo for us.

 

Regarding my chemo treatment today, Dr. Pinder shared with me that my white blood cell count is almost back to “normal.”  She was pleased to report that I appear to be recovering quite well, despite the fact that I still have four more treatments to go.  Whoo hoo! 

 

Lotsa action today and even more good news.  I couldn’t be happier!