Today was my first visit to the Pevensey Ward at Eastbourne DGH. Last time I went through chemotherapy it was in Brighton at the Royal Sussex County Hospital. Nice staff but a bizarrely horrible ward. Like being in a Victorian prison with linoleum floors from a 1960's local government office. This is much nicer, but I'll leave that for future blogging.
The purpose of the visit is an information session, not treatment. Basically you meet the nurses, they meet you, they explain what is what and find out what you need. Unlike most patients, I've been through this before. Makes life easier, but things have changed since I went through it all in 2010. All of this, regardless of how well you know it, has to be explained before you sign the consent. Now some of you may want me to go into details of the drugs but I'll do that in another update. Partly because I want to phrase it well to explain things, but truthfully because I can't be bothered right now when I want to talk about other stuff.
Oncology units are surprisingly cheery places. You'd never think it, but they are, and the Pevensey Ward is no exception. It is not a place to have a downbeat attitude, instead it is a place where people are trying to save lives. Though the drugs are nasty their purpose is to kill cancer and killing cancer is a brilliant idea. Well I think so, not that I'm biased of course. No, no bias. At all. Even the staff have an upbeat attitude. Surprised? Don't be.
Thus today I met Theresa who is the Sister for day patients and she got to meet me. We discussed the treatment, this means side effects and how the drugs are given. Then signing consent forms before being given the paperwork. Some of it I had, some is new. Blood work papers, there will be regular blood tests and this is the forms for the labs. Makes it quicker to be processed and the phlebotomists know what tests are needed. Also, I was given forms to assess side effects, lovely stuff. And then the wallet cards, a HEAT card, my new Blue Card and funkiest of all, a parking permit. No charges for parking, thankfully. I'll explain the cards in another update, so bide with me.
Finally, it is time to arrange when things kick off properly. So here is the timetable.
Next Monday (21st October) - I am having a PIC line installed. When I have it put in I will explain more.
Tuesday (22nd October) - It begins. And so will the fun and games.
And then I'm done. Time to leave, not having to pay for parking, and on with my day. Sure there are things I've not talked about here, but I will. Until then, keep the faith.
Jym
Oh, and any spelling, grammatical or other mistakes are my own. And I don't care!
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