The worst parts about today were having to go farther for treatment (just this once) and not knowing how it would be. It was long; 4+ hours in total. But I feel better than I did after the previous treatments. Donna, my nurse, told me what to expect with side effects (aches & pains) and scheduled my last neulasta shot on Sunday morning. YAY!
I feel good tonight. I expect to feel good tomorrow and go to Yoga (maybe I can keep from falling on my ass). The expectation is that I start to fade later on Sunday. My folks will be here to help until Monday afternoon. By Tuesday I ought to be on the upswing. And the best part is that I only have to go through this 3 more times. No nausea to put up with this time which is HUGE and the end in sight - even better.
Poor Kevin lugged a 50lb bag of stuff into the cancer center today to keep me occupied and then I was zonked because they give you benadryl with the Taxol - mostly knocked me out. I honestly had every piece of cancer info with me because I thought I'd need something to make the time pass. Sorry, Kev.
Alright - I'm slightly wired. Read a disturbing article linking aspartame (nutra-sweet) to breast cancer, Gulf War Syndrome and several other maladies. I'm trying not to be alarmist, but I want everyone I care for especially to be smart about what you take in. Cancer sucks. Avoid it and anything linked to it please. I do NOT want to see this in my friends & family. We are doing this ONCE and then we are DONE with it. Got that? That's the best gift we could ask for - keeping cancer from our future.
I'm not sure what I am going to do to help the cause, but I'm thinking about it. Today I made my stickers again. I took a sheet of 2 dozen stickers and wrote "Love", "Hope", "Healing", "Strength" & "Power" in colored Sharpie markers. I knew I'd need about 4-5 stickers and I had Donna share the rest with any patients who she thought could/would use it. It was the tiniest thing done in the race of this morning but at least Donna smiled. I hope that some patient's day was brightened because of it. A small gift from the universe can go a long way when you have to sit through chemotherapy.
2 comments:
jenn --
wow! there you go again. being courageous and also selfless as well as caring for the others facing the big C challenge. you manage to consistently elicit a tear or two from me with your inherent tenderness and kindness.
not to mention you look so charming and down right adorable in polka dots with those gorgeous eyes!
personally, i think the mc-spotlight should be turned up brightly on what masquerades as food and nourishment in our culture.
Almost twenty-five years ago, the farm activist Jim Hightower warned of 'the McDonaldisation of America'. He viewed the emerging fast-food industry as a threat to independent businesses, as a step toward a food economy dominated by giant corporations and as a homogenizing influence on American life. Much of what he feared has come to pass.
It is beyond heartwarming to read of Kevin's support, i.e., lugging in reading material and ironing.
Thank you, Kevin.
And a huge HOORAY to you for going to Yoga. It is about the breath and union made all the better if one falls on one's bum, IMHO, so there!
How has this experience passed so quickly, Jenn? I think it is primarily attributable to your plucky spirit.
As for me, I am so lQQking forward to the next chapter in how you choose to express your creativity.
The Chattahoochee Nature Preserve is murmuring my name this AM. I shall imagine you walking with me while we giggle about a myriad of the absurdities of the journey we term life while immersed in the lush, verdant surroundings.
love and light,
cherie
Hang in there! You're doing great, Jen. You amaze me.
xoSophie
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