Accidental Friends

Today is chemo #9 of 16 ... and that meant blood work yesterday. It has to be done the day prior to check my blood counts and be sure my body can process and tolerate the chemo drugs today. I never know for sure what the outcome is until I arrive at the clinic for chemo ... and I've seen many people turned away due to high/low counts ... but so far, my red and white cells and platelets have all stayed in normal range and I've been able to move forward on schedule.

Going to the same place for blood work every week means you become familiar with the people there. Whether you try or not. Yesterday was my 9th weekly blood draw (and there were several visits to the same lab before chemo for the early tests). I always schedule my appointment at the same time, late afternoon on a Monday.

The people working valet parking at the admissions door recognize me now, and know that I'm in and out pretty quickly, so most times they don't even bother taking my car all the way to the parking deck. They just leave it in the circle drive and I'm in and out even faster.

The admissions check-in people are getting to know me well enough to ask how I'm doing "this week" and a couple have even been brave enough to ask what I'm battling and offer their prayers.

Then I move on to the lab ... where every week I'm greeted by name before I ever hand over my paper. On one of my first trips there, I had a great person ... and then for a couple visits, I had people that couldn't find blood without a lot of discomfort and trouble. Eventually I got the good person again (it's generally the luck of who is available when it's your turn) and I talked to her about it and how many more weeks I had to come ... and she insisted that I ask for her each time. So I do, and things go so smoothly. I don't even have to tell the receptionist that I want to wait for her to be available, she knows. And because she sees me every week and sees that my arm is changing and I'm developing scar tissue from all the sticks, she's using a different type of needle on me now.

In a big hospital in a city of 100,000 people ... it's good to get to know the staff when you are in and out so much, and I've definitely found that familiarity is a good thing.