Drink up

I started the second round of chemo treatments today, moving it up a day to give me a little time to recover before the next three weekends. For the fourth time, I had a new nurse who went out of her way to make me as comfortable as possible as the medication/poison dripped into a vein.

I have found there is something soothing to having a warm blanket draped over me as I lie back in a recliner getting the treatment.

It took exactly as long for the medication to be administered as it did for me to do the Times crossword, which I think shows speed is not one of my crossword skills.

Our nurse, Felicia, gave us what seems like a good tip: The more you drink, the quicker the chemo residue is flushed from your system and the faster you recover from the treatments. I've been guzzling water (she said beer wouldn't work) ever since. We'll see what happens.

I also got a hug from my Red Sox nurse, Judy. We didn't even mention the Yanks, since all focus now is on the wild card. The big Yanks lead seems to have taken the edge off the rivalry for the front-runners, who believe that the earth's orbit has been rightfully restored since their team is playing so well, even if it costs $200 million or so to do it. Best hope for the rest of mankind seems to be them cooling off by October.

But who's counting their payroll?... Time to drink some more water. Maybe it would taste better if I put it in Heineken's bottle.