A Picture is worth a Thousand Words - Chemo #5 1/24/13

A line of pigeons cheered us on as we parked

Moos Health Sciences Tower. I love the look
of this beautiful building

Every time I drive Patti to her treatments I try to park on the top level of the parking ramp. We are a bit more open to the elements, but we usually get to park near the door. This time a ton of pigeons greeted us

Across the street is a unique looking building: Malcolm Moos Health Sciences Tower. To learn a little bit about this building you can go here!

The tunnels we walk through to get to the Masonic Cancer Center

There is a lot of tunnels...

A map of the tunnel system

Okay, where do we go now???

The underground cafeteria

This way for the foods

Masonic Cancer Center waiting room, I think I was spotted...

Underneath all the clinics and hospitals there is a labyrinth of tunnels. They are a lifesaver when it's -40 outside!

If you are too weak to walk these tunnels, they have a transport service where you can ride a golf cart to your destination or at least pretty close to it.

Since it is like a maze there are maps at every intersection to help people who have been stuck down there for days.

Even with them doing everything short of holding your hand and walking you to where you want to go, Patti and I still went to the wrong building our first time using the tunnels.

In previous posts I said we went to an underground 'cafe' to eat. It is also considered an alternative study area for students.

It's not unlike your basic high school or college cafeteria. It's not the best food, but they have a good selection and it's a nice place to rest and people watch.

The first floor of the Masonic Cancer Center is where we check in every time. This is where Patti gets her blood tests done and any non-chemo day check ups.

The long walk...The Infusion area is made up of Pods A-E. Each Pod has
has several areas to give chemo, do blood infusions, etc. There are 30 total
rooms which are usually full every day.

The Third floor hosts the 'Infusion' area. This is where Patti gets her fun drugs that make her healthy. It's a very long hallway with alcoves on either side. Each alcove houses curtained off 'rooms' where people go through chemo, blood infusions and more. There are free snacks and drinks for patients and their friends and family along with separate bathrooms for patients and non-patients.

There is usually a chair for patients in the room while a few have beds.
Along with the patient's chair there is also a less comfy chair for guests.
The patient has a movable TV that gets a few channels and also
has a DVD player.

Apparently, says Patti, there are different chairs throughout the Pods and this one wasn't as comfy. The chair is also hard to lean back, which we had to do to get her port accessed. 

Yes, I am so happy to be here!

That is the view of the parking garage in which we parked. I took the
picture of the Cancer Center from the top floor of the ramp.

My chair is on the right, we have a window view of the dorm across the street, and a very thin curtain that doesn't block any sound from our neighbors.

That is the parking garage on the corner of  SE Harvard Street and Delaware SE Street. Behind it is TCF Stadium.

Patti watching TV while getting the good drugs

TV is the entertainment of the day. Sometimes we'll have redbox movies, other times she'll be using her nook. It takes about 2-3 hours to administer the pre-chemo drugs and then the chemo ones. 

Did you know Chemo patients get tired? Patti was vewy vewy sweepy
so she needed a nap!

There's only so much boring TV you can watch. Sometimes chemo sessions are a good time to take a nap!

Patti's dancing partner

My guilty pleasure. I love the foam hand sanitizer...

Her dancing partner is on the left, her IV tower follows her to the bathroom, to the snack area and back again.

For me, though, there's nothing better than a cleansing foam spray from the disinfectant bottle, I'm sorry, I'm hooked!

Patti's 5th Chemo went very quickly. Her Neutrophil levels are still really low so we was given more Neupogen shots to bounce those levels back up. The next week she'll have to again stay from public spaces if she can help it or wear a mask so she can avoid germs. I hope you enjoyed this view into our Chemo day!