Chemo: Round 3

We're back at Stanford.  This place is starting to feel too familiar and I'm not sure if I like it.  It feels a bit like coming home every time we come back.  I think I'm relating the feeling of comfort I get from knowing we are in the best hands to the feeling of home.  The two shouldn't be confused, but if we have to have a home away from home, I choose here.
We are staying in the same hotel we stayed at last time, but this time we have got a room upgrade!  We slept well on our king sized bed in a room that is tucked in the back corner of the complex.  It feels a little cave like since our windows are covered by an overhang and let in no light, but it's nice and cool and a welcome change from the 100 degree weather at home.
Last Friday Willie had his PICC line re-interested.  We were happy to have the same nurse who inserted his first line.  She is the adorable Korean nurse who hums to herself while she goes about her work.  This time she was more talkative and told us all about her kids while she poked and prodded Willie's vein.  She decided to put the PICC line in his right arm this time in order to give his left arm a break.  The line went in in easily and I watched with a mixture of shock and interest as she pushed a two food long tube up Willie's vein. 
Willie had a sonogram unit on his chest that alerted her when the PICC was in the right place and she watched the screen with an eagle eye.  I was standing across from her, but could see the screen in the mirror that was behind her.  She hummed a low, sad-sounding tune, as she fed the line up Will's arm, her eyes never leaving the screen.  The music stopped when an image began to appear in on the screen.  It was the tip of the PICC line and it had to be positioned just so.  She fiddled with her end of the line and the image moved fractionally on the screen.  She was deep in concentration as if something was amiss. The silence was nerve wracking.  I needed her humming to tell me everything was ok.
The image on the screen moved again and a loud beeping came from the machine.
I thought it must be the warning bell that she had punctured his heart and it had alerted an emergency squad to come and save my husband.
"Got it!" she said, over the beeping, a smile dancing in her eyes that peeked out from below her bright yellow mask.
Apparently the beeping was a good thing. 
Why in the world would they make such an alarming noise be the signal of a good thing?!
Choon cleaned up and said she would send in the ladies to get a chest x-ray before she cleaned up.
"They will check to see if I did it right," she said in her endearing Korean accent "but I already know I did!  I always do it right!"
I love her confidence. 
The x-ray was perfect so she finished up by putting the sticky plastic dressing over the PICC site and sent us on our way.
We got back to Willows in the evening on Friday and went directly to our shop.  There is an annual car and bike show in our town and Friday night was the beginning of the show.  I was excited to watch the classic cars and bikes cruise by our shop and we got a lot of good business from people seeking ice cream and frozen yogurt in the 98 degree weather. 
The next morning, Willie got up and shined his bike up.  He has put his motorcycle in the show for the past several years and he wasn't sure if he was going to be able to participate in this one.  I watched from the kitchen window and nearly choked up as I watched his fresh white bandaged arm move back and forth over the shiny red paint.  His balding head and PICC line bandage made the scene look starkly different from the one just last year, but his obsessive attention to detail still remains.  I smiled as he sprayed and shined and leaned in close to make sure it was clean. I smiled as I watched him, and in that moment I was overcome with gratitude that he was feeling good enough to do that.  What a simply silly blessing that is!
We went down to the park where he parked his bike among the other shiny motorcycles then we set up a booth to sell more ice cream.  We stayed busy the whole time and had a fantastic afternoon enjoying the show and visiting with friends.  It is days like these that recharge our batteries.  I'm so happy we were able to go!
We woke up at 3AM Monday morning and drove back to Stanford.  I keep thinking that there has got to be a time when there is no traffic in the bay area, but we have yet to see it.  Even at 4:30 AM we were in heavy traffic!
He gets chemo from 7AM to 10AM and again from 5PM to 8PM on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  Yesterday's treatments went well and we are looking forward to uneventful, easy week.  We are crossing our fingers and praying that he will avoid any infection during this week of chemo or in the coming weeks when his counts drop.  If everything goes well this week, he will be able to go to the fundraiser BBQ that will be held this Saturday at Jensen Park.
If you live locally and haven't got your tickets yet, go down the Health Habit and get some!  You can also buy tickets the day of the event.  It starts at 1PM and goes until we run out of food, so come early and join in the fun!