Radiation is pretty much just repetition at this point. The worst part about it is getting the family out of bed at 6AM. Today Jen and I stayed at the hospital for a few more hours to have a port put in my neck, which will make the administration of the chemo drugs safer and easier on my veins. This involved going upstairs to the outpatient wing, checking into a kiosk, checking in at a desk, signing some papers, checking in at another desk, and waiting in a room until they called my name. By 8:30 my head was pounding from lack of caffeine although I’m down to a cup of half-caf so by the time they brought me back to suit up I felt terrible.

In the waiting room we ran into our neighbors again, who were doing a procedure of their own; They wheeled him in about 20 minutes before me. We joked on his way past that I’d hold his hand under the curtain while they worked on us. The phlebotomist was a pro and had my IV in without any sensation at all, and then they wheeled me down a couple of hallways to my OR.

I woke back up in the recovery room feeling groggy and slightly nauseous, and that feeling only intensified the more I stood up. When I had the biopsy I puked in a trash can as I got dressed but this time I was able to wait until I made it home; the act of walking from the car to the front door was enough to send all the crackers and apple juice I’d had right back up. Between my head, the pain from the port, and my heart racing I napped poorly until the girls got home, and then was able to have some bites of food before napping again. Once I woke back up at 6:30 I felt much better and have been moving around ever since.

Having the port is an odd sensation. It feels like I pulled a muscle in my neck until I raise my right arm or twist my neck and then I realize there’s a piece of plastic in there. Ewwwww. But if it’s a simple way to draw blood and take medicine without repeated needle sticks, I’ll live with it.