Guest Write the Blog: An Engineer Looks at Cancer

Stop me if you’ve heard this one… A Pirate and an Engineer walk into a hospital. And so began cycle 3 of chemo for our beloved Cap’n Dave. With Crystal needing to take an important test (which she passed with flying colors) the good Cap’n needed a First Mate for the adventures of the day. Since Boomer is afraid of hospitals and Kona is not yet of driving age I earned (gave myself) the honorary title.

As we strolled through the hospital Dave gave me the run down of all the buildings and the locations of the pharmacy windows I would need to visit later in the day to pick up the prescribed medications. We made our way up to the area where the infusions are administered, Dave checked in, and shortly after he was called in to have his vitals checked and then promptly sent over to have blood drawn through his port. I don’t like seeing blood but it doesn’t usually bother me, much like rock gardens. I would never make a trip to see a rock garden, but when I do happen to pass one I’m not disgusted. That being said, seeing the blood pulled out of Dave’s port was certainly unnerving. At first its just like any other blood draw, that is until my brain begins mapping the small tube attached to the port in Dave’s chest back over his collarbone and down into his aorta. They are basically pulling blood straight from our Capn’s heart, this hardly phased him, however; as he smiled and joked with the nurse about Halloween the entire time.

After the blood was drawn we were back to the waiting room for a few short minutes before Dave’s doctor grabbed us to discuss the results of the PET scan from last Friday. He was very quick to deliver good news, the cancer was definitely responding to the treatment!! The Doc juxtaposed the pre chemo PET scan with the PET scan after two cycles of chemo on his computer monitor to illustrate the progress. This is good news in that now there is no need to consider radiation therapy, the doctor believes that six cycles of chemo may do the trick! This was expected yet welcome good news! The unexpected part was how painful it was for Dave to try to explain to this brilliant oncologist how to capture a screen shot and paste it into a powerpoint for blogging purposes. After watching the doctor go through a cut, paste, and crop episode reminiscent of Austin Powers getting the cart stuck perpendicularly in the hallway, we finally got the screen shot below.

The left side is the new PET scan and the right is the pre chemo.

After a few more questions for the doctor we were on our way out to begin the infusions.

Dave reviews his questions for the doctor.

Once we were seated in the infusion area the real reason we were there began. Minute by minute, drip by drip, the poison poured into Dave’s veins. At first Dave was still very awake and alert and we had lengthy discussions about a wide range of topics, but mostly we judged those around us, as we do. We also had a good conversation about some bridge analysis I was running on my computer as we sat, and about the singer Hozier. We both agreed we liked his song “Take me to Church” but we disagreed on what we thought his name was in reference to. Dave thought he was Canadian, hence the name (hoser). I was putting a little different emphasis on the syllables to deduce he was from Indiana (Hoosiers). Google proved us both to be wrong. He’s from Ireland.

Around this time the Chemo began to take its toll on Dave and he dozed off and on for the better part of an hour and a half. When he awoke we decided I should go swing by the pharmacy to get his drugs and grab a quick lunch (not at the pharmacy). As I walked through the hospital by myself this time I realized how horribly out of place I felt. Nearly every one around me was either in naval uniform or scrubs or both. I immediately got the feeling I get when I’m a tourist in another county… I was just a strange visitor in their world. Luckily for me the signs were still in English and they seemed to accept my currency, although I never got a straight answer as to what the current exchange rate was… just weird looks.

When I made it back to the safety of Daves side he was nearly done with the first treatment and ready for the next three much speedier infusions. The second and third treatment were administered by hand, by his nurse. She would very slowly push the drugs through the syringe and into the port in Daves chest. Stopping occasionally to pull blood back into the tube to ensure it was still sitting properly in his bloodstream. After this, one final bag of meds was dripped through his port. It was clear that he was feeling the effects at this point. On the surface he constantly remained the healthy handsome man we know and love, never looking sickly at all, but in his eyes and his actions it was apparent that he did not feel well. He admitted that the nausea was beginning to get to him, as it normally did, through the first night.

Upon conclusion of the infusions we headed back to port to watch car makeover shows and relax. Before long Crystal arrived with some dinner and while I stuffed my face with food, Dave did the best he could to stomach some teriyaki chicken. After dinner we discussed our plans to venture up to Sonoma Thursday to see all of you! At this point I had to leave my post as First Mate for the day, knowing that the Captain was in Crystal’s far more capable hands. I can assure you all that our Captain is fighting with the same level of bravery and  badassery that he attacks everything in life with, and that clear blue skies lie on the horizon.

Captain, it was an honor.

Much Love,

First Mate for a day

Bootlegging Buccaneer Bob