The photo is just a little reminiscence of the good old days. I felt pretty lively the day Becky took these--about a thousand years ago in chemo time.
It's late and I need to sleep, but I had to talk treatment day. It's now the official high point of the week.
Camille Miller picked me up at 8:15 (or maybe a little earlier even) and had to wait for me. I was doing my hair! Greg took Tadman to Melissa's house to play with her kids while I was gone. It takes a load off my mind to have him watched when I'm away for a long time since my kids are in and out all day and I'm never sure if they'll designate another sibling in charge before leaving. Thank both of you for volunteering for hard duty today!
Camille and I were getting lucky right from the get go this morning. There was still a parking space in the MSTI lot, we got to start a brand new puzzle, and treatment was expeditious (is that a word?) as usual. The port was accessed easily, the doctor didn't make me wait, he was in a good mood and lowered my dosage of chemo because of bad feet even, all was well, then BAM! The hitch! This was my twelfth adria administration, in my mind my twelfth and last, but unfortunately in my doctor's mind it was the twelfth of FIFTEEN. How did that happen? That means 3 more treatments, more of those super expensive Neupogen shots, and 4 more weeks of bad symptoms.
Off to infusion and I had the sympathetic ear of my nurse. I told her about my downer of a week, and about how I thought it was a side effect of the steroid, and she talked to the pharmacist and got my dosage reduced. This might, however, lead to more nausea and stomach problems, but that may be better than the despondency. And I get to experiment this week and find out which is worse. At least no one has to hold my hair for me if I start throwing up.
So treatment day wrapped up. Don't worry about the puzzle. Camille got the edges all ready for the next puzzle efficienado while I was with the doctor. My doc had scribbled me out a scrip--I though for Neupogen--so Camille and I dropped it off, then had some lunch at the Brick Oven Bistro on the patio while waiting for it to be filled. The food, the atmosphere, and the company were great. When we went back for the prescription there was another surprise. The prescription he'd given me was a completely new subscription, a medicine to prevent ulcers (are you kidding me? I have to worry about ulcers now?) and he didn't tell me anything about it or why he wrote it for me or when to start taking it or anything. The instructions say I'm supposed to take it four times a day on an empty stomach, either an hour before or 2 to 3 hours after eating. Can someone tell me how I'm supposed to work that in when I HAVE to take food with the other medicines I take? I'm going to need a personal assistant to figure that out. Oprah could do it.
I didn't have much time to wonder because Kate had to get to a piano lesson and Parker to a group session at the clinic I'm taking him to, so it was back in the car. When I got home Hunter and his friends were jamming in the living room. We've got a lot of stuff hooked up in there. How did they manage to turn my living room into a recording studio when I was gone only a few hours? After a jam session you need a little pizza, Hunter let me know, so we got them fed and practiced and they threw a few water balloons and went on their way. I don't know about having all that gear in my living room, but other than that I'm thrilled to have them, and they're pretty good! If they keep coming I'm going to make them watch "The History of Rock and Roll" for inspiration. We'll have a little School of Rock right here.
It was hours ago we wrapped all that up, so I better wrap this up. As you can probably tell, in spite of the bad news at the doctor, I'm in much better spirits today. The steroid works well the first couple of days before crushing my spirit, so I'm going to do all I can to enjoy my early week before it turns on me.
Special thanks to everyone making comments after yesterday's blog. It HELPS A LOT knowing you all feel my pain and will do all you can to carry me through it. So Sarah, this is for you. Tonight "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!" Tomorrow, of course, may bring a retraction of that statement.
You are the epitomy of an unquenchable spirit! Just let them try to keep a good man [woman] down...you'll find a way to land on your feet. (How's that for a whole bunch of idioms thrown altogether?!) You can do all that and still have jam sessions, water balloons and run carpools on the side. Think of it this way, your doctor thinks you're doing so well that he doesn't have to hold your hand through everything and has complete trust that you'll do and take what he prescribes. It's actually quite a compliment, right?! (I'm sure you're his favorite patient!) :)
ReplyDeleteGlad you had a good day. We missed you at the cooking class at Annette's. Grilled foods.
ReplyDeleteAnd even tho you might be your doctor's favorite patient.........I think he's weird. Did he not take the "bed-side manner" class? Some of those super smart guys are just WEIRD.
That is SO unfair! You gear yourself up for 12 and then randomly 3 more are thrown in. Arrrgh!
ReplyDeleteTadman was so fun and easy to have. We went to Spaghetti Factory and he was the best little eater I've ever seen. It was funny when I dropped him off and there was indeed a throng of teenage boys in your living room.
I'm not going to lie, your doctor seems like an odd duck. I'm sure he's good. But weird, nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteHang in there, friend!
But did you know that your doctor plays a mean viola? That ought to redeem some of his weirdness or add to it! In any case, I'm glad you get a few good days before the bad ones. Really, we're all on that same schedule . . . remember what dad used to say "This too will pass". You're just on the extremely condensed cycle! Keep up the fight! PS and get that junk out of your living room. There are lots of other places for that stuff and you don't really need the chaos! That's my vote!
ReplyDeleteHeidi