11th Floor

Here’s the view from the oncology floor. This is what you see when you’re in the infusion room getting your IV chemo infusion. They’ve got good windows, lots of light, plenty of space between treatment chairs. Just like airplanes, you hope that you get the window seat.

Infusion Chairs

The chairs are pretty comfy. They recline all the way back and have a nice big tray. When you’re in the infusion room, they make sure your comfortable - drinks, snacks, warm blankets, chit chat, whatever you need. The vibe is pretty chill, more upbeat than you’d imagine. Some patients talk to each other, most read books or nap or do stuff on their phones.

They don’t really want you to take photos in the infusion room (understandably) so i had to sneak this photo while the person was away from their chair.

  • You get used to having all of your vitals constantly measured. As an introvert, it takes some getting used to, to be constantly the center of attention.

  • This the fancy futuristic exam chair. It has a remote control and can convert into any shape you need. It also measures your weight. Pretty fancy. There’s usually a pillow on it which is a nice touch.

  • Here’s a pillow on a fun rolly pillow stand so that there’s alway a pillow in reach.

Labs

This is my blood. Fresh from the port in my chest. I’m not sure what the different colors mean but they make a nice palette. They call it “taking your labs”.

Before they do any infusion, they always take a look at my blood, and make sure it’s got all the right levels of all the right things. They get the results back in like 15 minutes which seems super fast.

The woman who takes my labs believes in UFOs. The first time I met her I mentioned that Willow and I had stumbled across a UFO festival. And now, every time she sees me she brings up UFOs and I just go along with it because it’s funny to be talking about something like that in a serious medical context.

Before they give you your IV chemo infusion, they give you a bunch of stuff to ensure the medicine goes down right. This is a mix of anti-nausea pills and steroids. I didn’t realize that steroids can keep you awake at night so was up in the middle of the night thinking about all sorts of stuff and reading a bunch. Which is not too bad because I enjoy both reading and thinking about stuff.

 

Then they give you even more anti-nausea meds - this time via infusion. These bags of chemicals are hooked up to a fancy machine that infuses the contents over a precise duration. This bag was a 20-minute infusion. When it’s done, a little bell goes off.

IV Chemo

This bag here is the actual chemo. I just looks like another clear liquid. In this photo the bag is almost empty but when you start it’s full and bulging and really gives you a sense for the volume of “treatment” getting pumped into you.

This infusion takes about 90 minutes. The bag is on a rolling stand so if you want to get up, use the restroom, stretch your legs, get a snack, you roll it around with you.

Here’s a covert photo of the rolly stand and the mess of tubes and gadgets and the person sitting next to me.

Chemo Infusion Drawings

Here are a bunch of ink drawings I did during my infusion.
I’m not a very skilled drawer but find it soothing.