Good morning everyone. It’s almost empty. Hooray!

It’s been 41 hours since the bottle was attached to my porthole. 41 hours of worrying that I might pull a hose out, knock the needle, spill the bottle or sweat the patches off. Considering that I sleep, as Wendy says, like a crocodile in a death roll, I have done remarkably well, I think.

Still, I think this is the most stressful part of my treatment so far. Mostly because it’s the first time I have had to personally take responsibility for something serious and technical. I’ve spent the whole time mentally reviewing the myriad of problems the nurse warned us about and the corrective responses to each. Clamp this or that hose, not the wrong one, remove this or that connection, again not the wrong one, cap this or that end depending on what’s happening and for SURE don’t spill any of this stuff on anyone! It’s been a stressful couple of days and especially nights. I am so looking forward to sleeping contraption-free tonight.