After visiting the oncologist yesterday (Tuesday), Sue was cleared to undergo her eighth, and last, cycle of chemotherapy. Wednesday started just like any other chemotherapy day, but that was as normal as it got.

We arrived at the Cancer Centre around 9.30am and booked in - as usual. Sue got her plastic name bracelet - as usual. We took a seat in the waiting room - as usual. We waited a little while before being called - as usual. We waited an hour - not usual. We waited two hours very UNusual. Eventually we were called in and asked whether anyone had explained to us what was going on!

The short story is that the chemotherapy drugs for Sue missed the scheduled plane from Adelaide and consequently were "still en route"!  "Could we come back at about 1.30pm?" Being the extremely adaptable and laid back people we are (stop laughing!) we simply agreed.

However, being the inquisitive type, I questioned whether there was normally a store of the drugs locally, and what had happened to lead to the current shortage? It is amazing what you learn when you ask questions! Apparently there is no local Darwin stockpile of the majority of chemotherapy drugs. They are always prepared elsewhere and flown in! There are two main reasons for this. First, each 'dose' of chemotherapy is prepared specifically for each patient and varies with factors such as the patient's weight. Secondly, most of the drugs have a very short shelf life once prepared - some as short as 24 hours. It is not viable to have a 'lab' in Darwin due to the relatively small (though very important!) population so the drugs get prepared elsewhere and flown in almost daily it seems. The things that go on 'behind the scenes'.....

We returned as requested at 1.30pm. At 2.45pm Sue finally got to sit in the big blue chair and get the 9.30am infusion. The infusion process was uneventful though Sue was being used 'for training purposes' by a supervisor and a couple of new chemo nurses. Sue was pretty much 'over it' by the time we were done.

As a finale, after all the various paraphernalia was removed, and swabs and plasters applied (as usual), Sue got up to go but noticed a modest blood spot on the pillow she was holding. The innocent question "I wonder where that came from?" caused us to look around and see that Sue had sprung a significant leak and was liberally baptizing her arm and hand, her clothes, the chair and the floor with her lifeblood! That got everyone moving alright. After a quick clean up and a bit more of a sit down, we were finally on our way - a little after 5.00pm.

As I said, Wednesday started just like any other chemotherapy day......

PS: Sue baked the biggest-ever round Banana Cake as a 'thank you' to the Cancer Centre team. She took it in as soon as we arrived at 9.30pm. By the time we got back a 1.30pm it was almost all gone. The uniform report was that it was delicious. Pity Sue did not get to see everyone enjoying her efforts.