Our Unexpected Adventure: Last chemo for 2012

Last week Alex enjoyed a break. He went up to stay at Tracey & Mike's new place near Bathurst. Alex and Mike kept each other busy by all accounts with plenty of jobs around the home and on their property and of course several trips into Bathurst for "necessary parts". Even before Alex had to head back to Sydney, a list had been started of all the jobs to help with on the next visit. A new home to settle into, several sheds and buildings, a garden and irrigation system to create and 25 acres is enough to keep anyone busy, and I'm sure Mike is looking forward to Alex's next visit as much as Alex is looking forward to visiting.

Alex had to return to Sydney on Thursday as he was due for his blood test at the hospital. We had an early appointment on Friday morning with our Oncologist at 8:15am and we were hoping this appointment and his chemo would mean we'd be out by lunch.

The good point about an early appointment meant that we had no trouble finding a parking spot in the busy car park. We find our silver linings in all sorts of places these days, and on Friday, this was our first.

Our area of the hospital is always busy. The staff work non stop and yet remain friendly, with a smile for all. We had a longer wait for the doctor than normal, and by this stage we also recognise many of the other patients, so there are waves, hellos and smiles amongst those in the waiting areas.

After seeing both our Oncologist and his Registrar, we decided to walk up to our favourite cafe for brunch rather than wait at the hospital while they mixed Alex's "chemo cocktail". We enjoyed the fresh air, the brunch was lovely and by the time we walked back to hospital, we only spent about 10 minutes in the waiting bay.

It was then time for Alex to choose a seat while the nurses did the painful necessary preparations so his "tiger in the tank" could all proceed.

After canulas have been inserted, the nurses must 'get dressed' when they are handling the chemo drugs. Up until the past couple of months I've always loved purple - the jacarandas have been spectacular, I love lavender, and I've always loved the colour itself. It now has an added connotation:

One last check - just to see if she could see right through to Alex's other side -

and it was all systems go for that tiger to get into that tank.

In the two hours it took for the chemo drugs to drip through, Alex watched movies on his laptop and even managed to deal with business calls!

I know that there are lots of people working full time in office situations. A lot of those would love to be able to work from home, or sit at the beach with their mobile and laptop. I can't imagine anyone wanting to swap their office for this scenario though.

This time, Alex has been lucky - so far - because his appetite and taste buds have remained in place. This afternoon we went to the Opera House to a National Geographic Live event. The Swedish National Geographic Photographer Mattias Klum was presenting The Last Wild Places, a stunning talk and presentation of his photographs and exploits in a diverse range of countries. The auditorium was full and it was interesting to see the eclectic mix of those who came to an event like this. Needless to say, we loved it and it was wonderful to see such stunning photography and to listen to Mattias talking about his far from average "time in the office". What an amazing life he leads.

I had attended the previous National Geographic Live presentation at the Opera House a few weeks ago. That talk by Annie Griffiths was equally amazing. The contrast between both photographers, their stories, subject matter and style of photography was almost the same as the contrast in the weather on both days.

Previously, it was Spring and we enjoyed a wonderful Sydney Spring day