We're in it now and another surprise.

 So as predicted even though we arrived at the hospital at the requested 6:30 it was pretty much 8:00 o clock before things were ironed out with the admissions people. So off to the room on the 10th floor of the Kellogg pavilion at Rush. The promised view of traffic on the Eisenhower is obtained from the group lounge certainly not from my room. The room however is pleasant and acceptable considering it is a hospital.

 Looking to the south the views certainly are not wonderful with a view of one of the mid-50s additions. That gray concrete has really not aged all that well.

 If one leans over and looks hard the left you can see some of the buildings around the museum campus on the lakefront, with the tip of the new wing just visible on the left.

 A surprise relative to this unit and its relationship to the new wing.This had been the location of  this unit prior to the opening of the new wing. The unit was relocated to the 14th floor with an eastward view. From my point of view (as a tourist) that would have been the ideal location. However,there were issues with the ventilation and maintaining positive air pressure in some of the rooms. The simplest fix was to move back to this older location which they did several months ago.  So even new construction sometimes gets it wrong. They are currently revamping the ventilation system in this unit will move back into the new wing.

My BIG surprise was finding out that the peak of the negative effects of the chemo that I got today is not felt immediately. It will be five or six days before I hit bottom with the negative effects of this process. I had expected tonight to the rather uncomfortable but it will be Saturday or Sunday before I'm really feeling lousy. So where I had prepared myself for miserable evening it now seems like it will be a slow descent into this weekend. They promise that after this recovery will begin.

It also seems that the four days of blood collection last week produced so much blood (even though it is low in stem cells) that it will take both tomorrow afternoon and Wednesday morning to put that blood back into my system. Tomorrow they will also be installing what they call a PIC line which is a catheter type arrangement that allows for drawing blood and administering the drugs without the use of a needle. Even though these new needles are fairly painless I really like the idea of avoiding them all together.  The catheter extends all the way from the elbow into the heart.

So tonight is pretty much sit and wait for the effects of chemo to begin, and I'm feeling fine.Can I escape to one of the Taylor St sports bars?

As you might guess there is a great deal of concern about the introduction of outside germs and bacteria in the unit where most of the patients have compromised immune systems. Even to the point of posting this warning in the rooms .One manifestation of this concern  is that flowers will not be accepted but on the other side if you don't like the hospital food you can have visitors bring in whatever you'd like. But somehow I don't think Eileen will be allowed. to bring Quickly up for a visit.

Having moved back to the older space there are a couple of legacy issues in the room. Like I wonder if this is close to my last encounter with a picture tube television. Interesting hoe quickly we have been spoiled by flat screens