We interrupt the enumeration of reasons for a description of yesterday's tests at the Med Center.  Because kidney cancer is relatively rare and because the operation on the femur was complicated, with the exception of the radiation, all my treatments, including the surgery, have been/are at the KU Med Center and the related cancer center, which is located just a few blocks from the main campus.  It's about a 75 minute drive from my house to either facility, most of it on I-70, so it's only slightly inconvenient, and obviously convenience isn't the most important consideration: having the best doctors is.

The original plan for Friday was the regular three month battery of tests (blood work, full skeletal x-ray, CT scan) plus a shot and then a consultation with Dr. Van, the renal oncologist.  But Dr. Van had to reschedule, so that was moved to Monday, convenient because we had a scheduled consult with Dr. Templeton, the orthopedic oncologist on Monday.  By Friday, her scheduler had called to say that she would be out of town on Monday, so that had to be rescheduled as well. 

Friday we got up at 5:45 so that we could leave an hour later and get to our first appointment by 8.  I couldn't eat or drink for four hours before the tests, except for enough water to get down all the pills I take first thing in the morning.  (On a regular day, I have OJ, coffee, and cereal, take the first set of pills, then have to wait three hours without eating before I take the chemotherapy and then have to wait another hour before I can eat.)  The drive to KC was stressful, and there were unusual Februay thunderstorms, heavy rain, and low visibility.  We saw two major accidents, not exactly reassuring.  But we got to the Center with no problems and were called relative quickly for the blood work.  The phlebotomist (written on his lab coat) was not in a good mood.  He seemed to struggle with booting up the computer and getting the correct information and was less than friendly.  When he was ready to draw the blood, I said that when I also have the CT scan and will need an IV, they normally put in a port.  He said there were no instructions to do that; I said it was the way it was usually done.  He repeated that he wasn't going to do it, so I gave up, and he drew the three vials of blood.  Because the shot that Mohamed gives me every morning is an anti-coagulant, it's usually necessary to keep the pressure on the puncture a bit longer than usual.  The lab tech was having none of that either.

Next I registered for the x-ray and the CT scans.  A nurse brought me two bottles of the ionizing drink.  The Center has switched from the "smoothie" to a clear, fruit-flavored liquid in attractive bottles that look like supermarket drinks.  The drinks aren't horrible (the smoothies weren't either), but they're hardly something you would voluntarily pay for.  The nurse told me to start drinking them, but I told her that usually I don't start drinking until after the x-rays because the liquid interferes with accurate x-rays.  This seemed to cause some consternation and several phone calls until I heard one of the staff say, "Oh, here it is.  I found where he's scheduled for full-body x-rays."  By that time, the nurse had told me to go ahead and start drinking, so I had downed one of the bottles.  Now she told me to stop. Luckily, the x-rays went ok (unlike the first technician, the woman doing the x-rays was very friendly), and I could then finish the second bottle and have the CT scan (ditto for the friendliness of the staff).

All this was accomplished ahead of schedule, and we were faced with a two and a half hour break before going to the Cancer Center for a scheduled five-minute shot.  We decided to try our luck there, so we made the short drive and begged for sneaking us in early.  By this time everyone at the Cancer Center knows us, probably because we're an unusual couple: one old and pale and Wasp-ish; the other young and dark and Arab.  And we're both gregarious types who joke around with the staff.  So by 11, we had completed the day's work.  Monday we go back to meet with Dr. Van; two weeks later, we meet with Dr. Templeton.

By this point, I was very hungry, so we met our friend TJ at Stroud's, the famous "home of pan-fried chicken," often mentioned on the Food Network.  The original is in North Kansas City, but there is now a branch near the Cancer Center.  I don't know whether it was not having eaten for 18 hours or feeling relief that the tests were over, but my appetite, which comes and goes, was definitely in full force.  We got a full-order (way too much) of livers and gizzards, the delicious fried chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, and the best cinnamon rolls I've had in a long time.  I ate and ate.  And I have a great excuse for being a pig: since my appetite is variable, since diarrhea is a major problem, and since it's necessary to keep my weight up, I feel perfectly justified in eating whatever whenever I feel like it.  Sure, there was little that was healthful, and sure, I was completely logy the rest of the day, but rationalization worked as it's supposed to.

Taking all these tests doesn't usually make me apprehensive, but for some reason, this time it did, and I didn't sleep well the night before.  I don't know whether it was lack of sleep or the very heavy meal, but the rest of the day was a blur.  I fell asleep on the way home, I slept after we got home, and I could barely stay awake till 10.  But now it's time for the chemo pills, and then only an after hour of that, I can have the cinnamon roll I brought home from Stroud's.  That sounds like a good plan to me.