In Which, To His Surprise, Barry Grows Up

"You don't happen to work for a circus, Mr. Fraser?" asked the Pharmacist from the doorway of my room at the Chemo Day Care Center. She was fairly short and I could just see her over the shoulder of my nurse who was busy tapping my forearm seeking a suitable location to insert the needle for my drugs and pausing only to make little "Grrr" sounds of frustration.

"Work sometimes felt like a three ring circus, but no, I never actually worked for a circus." I croaked in my weakened little voice.

"Because your chart says you are the tallest man I've ever met. Nine feet tall, in fact. How about basketball?"

"Baseball and hockey were more my games." I laughed. "But then I'm only 6 feet tall. Have always been six feet tall since I was 18."

The Pharmacist smiled. "So you're sure you didn't grow an additional 3 feet over the past week?"

"Grrrr!" said the nurse beside me, tapping even harder on my arm.

"I think my wife would have mentioned it." I assured her.

"Well, my loss." smiled the Pharmacist. "We formulate your drugs based on height and weight and legally we have to check any anomaly on the chart, and this was quite an anomaly. I'll get busy with your drugs and get them up to you as quickly as I can."

"Okay, I give up." said my nurse. I don't think you have any veins in your forearm. Maybe one of the other nurses will have better luck."

And she headed off to find help leaving me alone in my room.

The Chemo Day Care Center is beginning to feel like a comfortable place. I've been coming here for over a year now. The only difficulty for me was when I entered and had to pass by the bell that is rung when patients complete their final round of treatment. The bell I had rung back in February and whose ringing was echoed around the world by those friends who follow this blog.

Well, bell, I thought as I paused to look at it. I will be seeing you again in a few months time. Just wait right there for me.

And then my nurse returned with a slightly older colleague who found a suitable vein within thirty seconds and I was hooked up and ready to reacquaint myself with Taxol.

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To see Barry and Linda's contribution to the Friday Shoot Out please CLICK HERE