T minus 3
Today was another "easy" day in Ambicare, and I am now back in my hotel room watching The tennis on centre court. Nadal cruised through, I very much suspect he will be there in two weeks time, but we'll see ...
This morning I rang Harry to see how his first injection of stem cell stimulant went, and it was a bit of a nightmare. It was due yesterday, and was scheduled to be delivered by the district nurse at Harry's home (the local GP practice being closed on Sunday). The nurse arrived, but was very unsure of herself. "The dose is very large" she told Harry. She rang her colleague who also came round. They read through the pharmacy notes for the drug, which state that it should only be administered when an oncologist is present, so they refused to do it. They told Harry to go to the walk-in medical centre. The nearest centre is in Hounslow.
But things then got worse; the doctor they saw also refused to do it. Harry got him to ring UCH, which did clarify things a bit, but because the doctor had shown reluctance to administer the shot, Harry was not keen for him to do it. Then the doctor accused him of doubting his professional integrity! Finally, Harry came up to UCH, to T16, and it took 5 minutes to administer! By coincidence, the registrar on call was the same one who wrote the instructions for administering the drug, and she admitted she could have put more explanation. What a kerfuffle! And all this on father's day! I most deeply thank Harry and his family for their forbearance and persistence.
Today Harry went to his group GP practice to get the next shot, and the doctor he saw had initially the same reaction as the district nurses! But Harry protested that full instructions were sent to the practice. Grudgingly the doctor looked on his computer, and sure enough sufficient instructions to administer the injection were there on file! The second shot was duly administered, and hopefully Harry will be OK for the rest of the week's ministrations.
For myself, I still feel well with no nausea and good taste (impeccable taste I might say). Tomorrow I get a stronger drug called mephalan, that may cause nausea, and then on Wednesday the really nasty drug campath, after which I will be admitted. Campath causes one's immune system to attack itself, and rashes, shivers and so on are very common reactions. I get Piriton and hydrocortisone to counteract it.
This evening I am having dinner with Patrick at a swanky London restaurant inside the Intercontinental hotel at Hyde Park Corner. I will take a cab.
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Yesterday was indeed a very trying day. A total of 3 nurses and 2 doctors refused to adminster the injections. When I phoned UCH for advice yesterday, the operator told me that there wss no gurantee that she would be able to put me through to a doctor who would be able to assist (if there was no one around involved in Ian's care).
ReplyDeleteWe were so lucky that we were put through to a registrar who is involved in Ian's care. She was a real heroine and provided us with support over the phone throughout all the difficulties at the 'walk-in' centre. She even left us some sweets when we came to UCH for Harry's injections later that afternoon!