Not a Good Day Today, + Real Estate Discussion (off topic)

Wednesdays are the day for radiation and chemotherapy. Radiation Oncology and Dr. Flam are in the same complex, owned by St Agnes Hospital. The Oncology group rents space and is an independent entity while Radiation Oncology is owned and run by St. Agnes. Surprisingly, perhaps, the Oncology practice is much less efficient from the patient's point of view.
After my radiation treatment, I arrive for my chemo just after 9:00 AM. the waiting room and the adjacent corridor are filled with patients. I sign in and find a rare empty chair. The folks in the waiting room can talk of nothing except to express their unhappiness about the long wait. It made me feel guilty, because when I worked at a place called "La Clinique Medicale Des Groupes" in Montreal, in an average morning, a total of 25 fluoroscopic examinations were scheduled, with the last usually completed at 1:00 PM, and the latest appointment was 8:30 AM. 


At 10:45, they finally call me to the lab, where they weigh me and send me back to the waiting room, because my blood draw is to be from my port. The blood draw and port access was done about 11 AM. I finally get to see Dr. Flam around 11:15. I am told he has 90 patients on the schedule for today.
My lab results are discouraging. the Hemoglobin is stable at 10.9, but my white count has dropped to 3380. My platelet count is not bad at 129,000.
Because of this, I will need shots of  Leukine. This is given subcutaneously, for 5 days, after oral Tylenol, 325 mg tabletsx2, and Claritin.  Potential side effects are allergic or flu-like reactions, hence the Claritin. and musculoskeletal pain, hence the Tylenol.
There are two areas where the chemo is given. One has about 16 chairs and two rooms with a nursing station between them. It is very busy and noisy, without internet access, and without windows. The second, called "The Clinic" is bright, relatively quiet, and has wireless internet. I ask to go to the clinic, and this is agreed to. However, when I get there, I am sent back because I reported a "Reaction" to the Taxotere last week. The reaction I reported was slight flushing and warmth around my ears. I return to the nursing station just after 11:30, but they have no empty chairs to give me chemo. I am seated at a bench to await an empty chemo chair. By this time, I am uncomfortable, getting hungry, and needing to use the bathroom. I get up and inform the nurses to call me on my cell phone when they have a space for me and that I am going home. We finally agree that I can go home and return around 1 PM.
I go home and have some lunch, and fall asleep for a few minutes. Judy goes to the Pharmacy and gets the Tylenol and Claritin. She also learns that my insurance will not cover the refill on Carafate, and they want $50 for a small bottle which, taken as directed, will last 1 week.
I return for my chemo and injection. I end up home about 3:00 PM.
It is now after 5 PM. I am having some pain in my lower chest and back. I presume this is from the Leukine and not from my esophagus, but I will be very nervous if the pain gets worse. I am also feeling mild nausea. I may need to self-medicate for that.
I have said that when you go to see Dr. Flam, you must park your "Type A" personality at the door and go with the flow. Today, I could not do that. I complained to the nurse, and that's how I learned that he had 90 patients scheduled for today. I complained to Tom Hackett. an associate of Dr. Flam, who looked in on me today, and I complained to Dr. Flam. It was not all useless venting. I learned that they can see me at 7:30 AM, get my labs done, and start the chemo, and then get me to my Radiation treatment with the chemo running. If I wasn't so "Type A", I would never have learned about this.
Next Wednesday, I will be there at 7:30.
Why would Blue Cross deny payment for Carafate? Do they think it would be cheaper than treating me for esophageal perforation? I will try to contact them tomorrow to find the answer to this question.
I am wondering about the plan to have chemo with radiation to enhance the effect of radiation. Is it worth it? Is it going to be any different than if I had radiation alone? If Dr. Nghiem had not endorsed this plan, I think I would quit the chemo. I will talk about this with Dr. John tomorrow morning.


Real Estate Discussion (Off Topic)
We are hoping to move from our large 2 story home into a smaller house on one level with no pool. We have found 2 different homes which were suitable and made offers at what we thought were reasonable amounts. Surprisingly, other buyers came in at higher offers and we did not get the properties. There is an interesting trend in housing here. I called it a "Squeeze". Smaller homes are selling rapidly and values are going up. Larger homes are not selling and values are going down. For those trying to downsize, this is not a good trend. Perhaps the reason is the fear of rising interest rates, either from the stalemate on the government debt ceiling, of from the government printing money causing inflation.