Chemo Day Debrief

WOW...  is really all I have to say...  there are almost 1000 COVID-19 cases in TN and when I got to UT Medical Center - Cancer Bldg., only the nurses at the entrance checking your temp wore face masks and gloves...  otherwise, it was NADA...  no one, not the doctors, nurses, or patients gave me the impression that they were very concerned about this at all...

I wore a mast but forgot my clothes but I did bring wipes and used them on my lounger before I sat down...  My mask was worn not to protect other people but to protect ME from other people...  so, in that sense I did what I needed to do.

This visit was labs and treatment, no doctor visit...  I will get labs, doctor, and treatment next month.  So, once I checked in, I betcha I did not wait more than 5 minutes before my name was called for labs and then the labs nurse took me to my assigned chemo suite where I waited for tests to be performed that would indicate if I was a good candidate for treatment.  OPDIVO is the only drug that I have taken when I have to meet certain lab qualification in order to receive treatment.

My treatment started at 9:00 after checking in at 7:45 and I was done by 9:30...  a good hour or before I am normally done when I see the doctor.

The only side effects of OPDIVO that have affected me are FATIGUE and NAUSEA...  And, over the last 18 months, I have only had to take nausea pills a dozen times or so...

It seems like every time I go for my chemo, I hear about someone having it worse than me and always consider myself very fortunate because I have had minimal problems...