Day 14 - Abort!

July 30

So, at 6:30am today I arrived at the University of Minnesota cancer clinic downtown. I expected things to go better.

The nurse trying to draw blood for labs (before chemo) said my veins are "hard." She could not get a draw. After a couple of pokes and some wiggles, she got the draw from the back of my right hand. However, the blood was flowing slowly so it took forever.

She called an EMT in because I lost all color and my BP dropped to 90ish/60ish. I did not pass out but wish I would have. After that and I was okay, the ultrasound person came in and had similar issues finding a decent vein. She finally got the IV in my left bicep. After finally being allowed to walk to the room I'd be in for chemo, I had time to think.

All stop. Fuck this. Two chemo appointments ago, I ended up with a bunch of chemo in my arm because of a bad IV placement. The last one, as you know, I ended up with a superficial blood clot.

They called one of the docs to talk to me. There is more to the story but, cutting to the chase, I now have an appointment to get a PICC line on Thursday. This week's chemo is a miss but they will add one near the end of my treatment.

I am not enjoying this.