In and Out and Back Again in Less Than 24 Hours

Danger: Rambling ahead

Speaking of things one cannot get rid of, kind of like dog doo on a Vibram sole . . . Here I am. Out on the first, back on gthe second, and here it is, the fourth. Still at St. Vincent's.

Go figure. You get released from the hospital and go back to the Pharm (called that by me because of the all the drugs the residents are on) only to get put back in the following day for yet more side effects from either the Erbetux or the 5FU. Who knows which one is to blame? In recent entries we have elucidated quite enough on the situation in the lower GI tract, so let us go on to something else. This rash sounds like a good idea.

The rash is caused by the Erbetux and, according to the best information available, is actually a good sign that the Erbetux is doing its job. In fact, the worse the rash, the better the outcome as far as the cancer goes. You must take the bad with the good, it seems. It also seems that part of the bad is going around with at least your face looking like a leper with a bad case of acne who appears anxious to join Job on his dungheap. Scoot over, pass the potsherds and let's get scraping. Feels kind of like someone has worked my face and throat over witht a brand spanking new piece of forty-grit sandpaper and then threw a little itching powder on there just to get things going..

At any rate, I was on what they call Contact Precautions for a while yesterday and today but I am sure they will be calling that off soon. It was more of a precaution for the other patients; just making sure I was not carrying anything around to them. Of course, that also keeps me cxonfined to my room until this is all called off. It would just be nice to get out of here and spend a week or two doing semi-normal stuff. Maybe heading to the library, having a Cafe Americano at Starbuck's. Stuff we too often take for granted. It would be nice to go over and play with my grandchildren. Right now, however, my face might just run them off in the opposite direction. Especially nice right about now would be getting up to walk around without worrying about an IV tube hanging from my chest. Even so and despite the continuous whining, I must say that I seem to have it so much better than a lot of folks here. There are people here who truly are hurting but who do not have this outlet as I do. That is not simply an afterthought as I see it everyday I am here, whether people are being wheeled by my room on their way to a test or a "procedure," or whether I am out (when allowed by the infection control folks) and walking by their rooms, unavoidably witnessing what they and their families are going through. God bless 'em all.