4/12: a basket of joy
and just like that, a third of the Taxol infusions are done! yippee!
believe it or not, theme-o planning can get a bit overwhelming, especially with the weekly visits, so Kaela, Meg and I opted for something simple the day after easter: bunny ears. halloween 2017 we did Bikes & Brews in animal onesies and Kae, a llama, kept getting confused for a bunny, so she wore her onesie, too. i also figured, since the easter candy was 50% off, that we’d bring in some baskets of candy for the staff and patients, too.
the whole idea for Theme-o Chemo’s was born after Colleen told me a story about her late mom, Amy, and how she became known through her lung cancer treatment as the Sticker Lady. she would always ask at the end of her appointments, “was I a good girl? do I get a sticker?” and eventually people started sending care packages filled with stickers as encouragement and support for her. knowing i’d be a regular at the Cancer Center for the better part of a year, i was inspired to think about what i could do to make it more fun for me and my friends and also how to bring some joy into an otherwise somber environment for all the nurses, doctors and patients i’d come to know.
well, Meg & Kaela really knocked it out of the park to spread this mission on Monday. we gave one basket of candy to the front desk and scheduling staff, one to the ladies in the lab and brought the other back to the chemo wing. i encouraged them to go visit with the other patients and bring candy when i was napping and for close to an hour they went around to each room, offering candy and conversation to the other patients. when they came back, they told me a number of stories from the adventure and while they expressed it, i could also see that they received just as much joy as they’d appeared to have given. we left the basket and asked the nurses to continue offering candy to everyone, which they happily obliged.
the neutrophil numbers were a little higher than last week but still in the range that the nurse had to get orders from Dr. Shah to administer the chemo, but she did give the go-ahead on the full dose. my weight is still maintaining and since my activity level has definitely increased over the last two weeks, this feels like a gold star achievement. i am still getting pre-meds of benadryl, steroids and pepcid, and i will be able to reduce the dose of benadryl next week. usually, i nap through the infusion but by the time that i get home i’m on more of a high from the steroid and am awake the rest of the day — not the case this week. both monday and tuesday afternoon i napped for 2 1/2 hours and last night i slept a solid 12 hours and still had to crawl out of bed this morning. i haven’t been this consistently tired in many weeks, but this energy slump, along with some deficits in focus and concentration, are about the worst of the side effects i am experiencing.
unfortunately, Audrey is ill… something of a stomach bug, so she has been with Robin since wednesday morning. i feel terrible that she is sick and wish we could be snuggled up and resting together but that’s just not in the cards when i need to stay well enough for the infusions to continue. Robin’s done this duty a number of times before, but usually it is to prevent me from getting sick and missing work, not getting sick and missing chemo. oh, life.
i just received a delivery of food from the church meal train and am going to rest quick before an appointment this afternoon. later this evening am going to see a Mark Nepo presentation with my aunt Jill. when i was diagnosed, her husband, my uncle Louie, was one of only a few to ask “how are you spiritually?” just a few days after a dear friend, Kim, had given me one of Nepo’s books to read. uncle Louie sent me a daily reading book of Mark’s as well and i have received a lot of his writing like a deep breath of air and a knowing truth; it will be a great experience to see him speak.
somebunny’s sleepy
nurse Lisa humored us with this vitals check
