Visitors Signal a "Great Week!"

Tuesday - July 17, 2012

With Henry, Mary, Alexandra, and Antonia!

My "good week" was supposed to be last week = hospital week = E.coli infection / neutropenic fever week = not so good!  NOW, I have the gift of a hospital reprieve for this upcoming week, a 5 day span that was supposed to be spent being infused with the Hyper CVAD "odd cycle" protocol.  Instead ....  I have a bit of a staycation.  Yes, I am still on IV antibiotics, my port is accessed, and I am streaming tubes underneath my shirt (and tucked into my bra).  BUT doesn't it make sense that this "found" week - with the extra recovery time between chemotherapy regimens - should be a comfortable, fine health week?  I am feeling very optimistic!  It is a gift of a week!

At the very least, I am SLEEPING!  Yesterday, I built off Sunday night's nine hours' rest with two long afternoon naps and now I have just roused after almost ten hours' sleep.  Until I begin steroids in this next chemo round, I believe that I can say adios to 4 a.m. morning wake-ups!  That routine definitely wore me OUT!  As an added bonus, my mucositis and muscle fatigue are gone and my neuropathy / tingling in my fingertips has just become par for the course.  As for the omnipresent pain in my feet, I'm sure it will dwindle over the next few days and I take this discomfort as a positive sign that the Neulasta is fulfilling its long overdue (and expensive) obligation to grow my bone marrow.

With Naomi and Colleen!

This week, I am also feeling functional enough to get out of the house and to interact with the world.  How lucky to have visitors!  On Sunday, Mary and family dropped in on their way to Virginia Beach.  Joe and I met everyone in town for breakfast where we enjoyed fresh air, sunshine, and family conversation - most notably, wireless fence options for Maureen's young dog.  And yesterday, Naomi and Colleen came down from Richmond!  It was so wonderful to share some of our first-year teaching experiences and to mull over education issues - a total escape from medical concerns! Venturing out solo, having the chance to revel in the VW's manual transmission and handling, was also a happy injection of normalcy.

At some point -- not in the short term, not until I have possibly weathered a bone marrow transplant, not until I regain strength and stamina -- I can envision having more than one "good week."  I can see a "good month" where I can finally make the long trip up to New Hope and visit my mother-in-law and her rambunctious canine.  I can imagine a "good year" where I can actualize my planned refinements and adjustments for my second (delayed) year of teaching.  Thank you Colleen, Naomi, and Mary!  Having visitors puts me in touch with the world that continues and thrives beyond the incessant rhythm and requirements of this lymphoma battle, a reminder of what is awaiting me at the end of this chemo road.