And so it begins ...

Off to Vancouver tomorrow for the final pre-chemo prep at VGH - stuff that can't be done in Sechelt.
      Will have a MUGA scan (enhanced ECG) to establish a baseline before I start on Herceptin, which can be very hard on the heart. The scan is a painless procedure that requires an initial injection of tin. The tin is left to float about my blood system for the better part of an hour. I then return to the nuclear medicine dept for an injection of a radioisotope - the radioisotope will attach itself to the tin, making it easier to "read" my heart function during the scan.
      Prior to this, I will have a port-a-cath embedded into my chest. In case you're wondering, the port is a disc-shaped object that, once embedded, looks similar to a pacemaker. Friends in the know tell me the embedding procedure is similar to that of a pacemaker as well. The port will make it easier for the nursing staff at St Mary's to obtain the necessary weekly blood samples and to administer the weekly chemo treatments as most veins in my usable arm have pretty much co-operating after the last round of chemo. 
     I've had both of these procedures before, during the previous bout of cancer, so know what to expect. Simple stuff really. No big whoop.
     In addition to all the aforementioned hospital jazz, there is a plan to get my hairs cut. I know one of the chemo drugs I'm scheduled to take will not prompt any hair loss (at least it didn't when I took it a year ago), but am not sure about the second drug. Since the mop is starting to resemble a mullet, the cut is long overdue. In any case, I don't want to wait until it's time to visit this salon - one I spied while in Derry (formerly Londonderry), Northern Ireland.