Still struggling with belly pain and now nausea which I believe is do to the latest drug they put me on to bring down my white cell count.  Yesterday I saw Dr. Hagen at the pain clinic and was very impressed with him.  He had a number of recommendations including methadone of all things.  I'm not quite ready in my head to go that route so opted for a lighter drug.  I had to take a few of them last night but finallyl seemed to get things under control and finally had a good nights sleep.  It's a good thing because today was a real test of patience.

We left home just before 10 AM knowing I had an appointment with the blood specialist at 11 AM and that I had to have my blood work done prior to having a bone marrow biopsy.  Well, got the blood work done in relatively short order then went to check in to see the doctor.  We were informed that they had a 12 o'clock time on their appointment sheet but they called Bill just a couple of days earlier to change my 10:40 appointment to 11 AM.  The girl then assured us that the doctor seemed to moving patients through quickly today so no worries.  Well, we sat in the waiting room until almost 12:30, were finally put in an examining room where we waited at least another 45 minutes before a resident arrived wearing a mask because she had a cold.  She did an exam and asked me a bunch of questions which clearly indicated she had not looked at my chart.  Kelli was starting to steam.  She gets quite agitated when doctors run late.  The resident completed her exam and said the doctor would soon be in to see us.  We were also interviewed by the nurse....basically the same questions again.  At about 1:30 we were told they were getting ready to start afternoon clinic so they were sorry but we had to be moved to a room that resembled a closet.  We waited here until after 2 o'clock when the doctor finally came in and for the second time reviewed the possible side effects of the drug they were planning to put me on. We talked to her for about 10 minutes and were then told to wait to see the pharmacist.  Another 40 minutes waiting for him only to hear all about the side effects a third time.  It's no wonder patients get side effects.  It's almost like they plant the idea in your head what's likely to happen to you if you take this drug!  Finally finished up in the cupboard and went to pick up my precription at the hospital pharmacy.  "Please have a seat and wait....it's not yet ready."  From there upstairs to floor nine for an ECG and finally DONE!!!!  We were totally spoiled when we were in Vancouver.  If you were told you would be seen at 2 PM you were seen at 2 PM.  It didn't matter whether it was a scan, blood work or a doctors appointment.  They ran like clockwork there.  I wonder why Foothills can't do that?  At one point Kelli looked at the nurse and said "We've been waiting 2 hours!  How much longer do we have to wait to see the doctor?"  The nurses response....."We typically run one to two hours late EVERY day."  Honestly, I do not think there is any excuse for that.

Finally home after 4 PM.  We were supposed to head out to the lake today but have decided to delay for a couple of days.  I need to make sure I've got my nausea and stomach aches under control and know that the new meds are sitting OK.  Really don't want to be out in Invermere if I'm having any problems and honestly, feeling like I've felt the last few days, golf would not have been fun.  I'm sad about this because we had a fun time planned with Trish and Gerry, their friends and my Dad tomorrow and I know they will be disappointed we didn't show.  Sometimes you have to use your common sense however, and this is one of those time. So start the new meds tonight with fingers crossed and new hope that we are back on course.