Week 2 - Day 5

TFI Friday! I think I know what that really means now.

Gail's tough assignment is coming to its end – for this first cycle of HDIL-2 treatment, anyway.

Consider what is meant by an endurance activity. You know that to complete it requires something special. The dictionary definition of endurance is "bearing hardship; the fact or power of suffering an unpleasant or difficult process or situation without giving way".

It means that to get to the end of a particularly difficult and challenging task, project or endeavour, it demands stamina, determination and guts to achieve that end. Sometimes a little luck is needed to help you along your way. But there are occasions when the difference between making it or not, is down to your heart. The size of your heart. And to me, Gail's has a huge heart.

Through this toughest of regimes, she has always remained positive, always the model patient never complaining, not waivering from her mission to give all she can to her cause.

I sat with her today from the start of IL-2 dose number seven's journey. I watched the clear fluid trickling down the transparent tube and into her blood. I witnessed the contorting rigors take over Gail's bloated body. I helped bring her temperature down with a flannel repeatedly cooled under a cold water tap and applied to arms, legs, feet, and brow. I wetted her mouth with ice cold water through a straw. I gave her reassuring caresses and held her hand when she was able to hold mine. I wish I could do more.

The nurses have been working hard to keep ahead of Gail's busy drug administration schedule. A smorgasbord of tablets and liquids to control her temperature, pain killers, anti-sickness, antibiotic, anti-histamine, and antacids. Drugs to control Gail's back pain, another to ease the nerve pain caused directly by IL-2, and of course, IL-2 itself.

A word for the nurses. They are angels. They do everything they can to ensure their patients are attended to, cared for and kept as comfortable as can be. They are exceptionally devoted to their work. That is always in evidence.

As Gail was showing a good recovery from her final dose, she was granted her wish. She was detached from her drip-feed lines and allowed the luxury of a bath. When she got back from her soak, an angel told Gail that she'd put fresh sheets on her bed. It was 9pm... She was at the end of her shift! She bade us a goodnight and wished us well before she left to go home. She's getting married at the end of May. We wish her every happiness. She so deserves it.

Gail deserves every happiness too. She so deserves it.