Chemotherapy 2

No. I am not sociable, haven't been since I resigned from my job that many years ago. It's easy to arrive at this conclusion.

While waiting for my turn at the Oncology Ward yesterday, I sat down way back from the rest of the crowd. (That's the first clue.) An elderly lady in her seventies took a seat on the row in front, which was good. She minded her business and I minded mine, and that suits me fine. (Second clue.) Next, a young couple arrived. They took the seat next to the elderly lady in front and immediately struck up a conversation in Mandarin. The woman is in her forties and from what I gathered from the little Mandarin I knew (I could speak a smattering of Mandarin, if you have to know) the younger woman had gone through the entire treatment regime and is here for a follow-up consultation with the oncologist. The first thing I noticed about the husband were the two strings of crystal beads on his left wrist. Those beads were huge, probably a centimetre in diameter. One is brown, the other yellow. An old yellow string accompanied the pair of beads and clutched in the same hand is a book. He was bald. He asked my husband if we could read any Mandarin. I looked away while my husband gave him a polite "No." Next he went on to extol the wonders contained in the book he held. My husband said "We can't read Chinese." So he went on to tell us the precious tips on surviving cancer, the dos and don'ts, the special recipes which is contained in his book. My husband declined and the man backed down, finally.

They jabbered on and on and I was relieved when they finally left. An old couple in their sixties arrived to take the seat they vacated. The woman read her papers quietly while the husband answered a call from his staff regarding some business deal. A businessman, from the look of it. They minded their business, which was a good thing.

A well dressed woman in her early forties arrived at the scene. She was all decked out in branded attire, handbag and what looked like an Adidas ski cap.  She took the seat behind me, read her papers and minded her business, which is fine with me.

They called my number so I went in.

In the treatment room, two ladies were already seated with their tubes.While the rest of us sat in collective silence, each minding our business, the two cackled on and on for the entire duration. Mine was finished after 1¼ hours. I went home with a head-dy-ache!

This morning I woke up still nauseous and feeling utterly lousy. Not a pleasant experience, if you ask me.