Regular oncologist visit

Once every month I have the big blood draw for liver function and CA19-9 as well as the usual red and white counts. Then I see the oncologist, and after that I have the first chemo of the new cycle.
That was yesterday. The appointments with Dr. Nickerson follow a routine, and while he's always friendly and ready to answer all Jerry's or my questions, it's obvious that most of the time this is not the most exciting case he deals with all day -- which is fine with us.
He asks how I'm doing, if there have been any changes, if my appetite is good, and then he checks my lymph nodes, looks down my throat, and listens to my breathing. Then he sends me off for the chemo. This time we talked about the new ulcer meds. The real side effects (aside from purple spots) have included some arthritic aches and fluid retention, but they seem to be getting better.
And we arranged the chemo schedule around our Utah trip, which makes the trip seem even closer.

We go out to the infusion room and play scrabble while I get the chemo.

Interesting people today: a young man who told J that he "liked the shirt with the vertical stripes," and then almost immediately told a nurse that he "liked her blouse with the flowers on it," in each case without any leadup or followup. Obviously he had something else going on besides cancer.

A prisoner plus guard was off to the right. The prisoner was wearing an orangejumpsuit and shackles. The poor guy was getting Lasix (?) which makes one have to pee, so at about five-minute intervals he'd head for the bathroom, encumbered by the shackles, the IV pole, and the bored guard.

A woman sitting between the prisoner and me looked scared and upset. The nurse explained to her that she needed a port, that it would make chemo and blood draws much simpler, and that look, this woman (me) had one and didn't mind it at all. She gestured me over to show off my port. I did and also did my best selling job on ports, especially after the poor woman showed me her bruised arms where the phlebotomists hadn't been able to find any more veins. Don't know if I persuaded her.

(I won the scrabble game, to the cheers of the nursing staff. They're all on my side.)