My friend Bonita was looking for a blog update yesterday and wondered why I haven't posted another one yet. I thought I had just posted one so there is nothing new to write about. Then I realized almost two weeks have passed. What? That's half a month! OMG it's March! The saying "time flies when you're having fun" isn't really true. Well I suppose it is, but it's definitely not comprehensive.
You would think that these days, as I sit around and spend entire days in my pajamas, that it would feel like I have a lot of time on my hands. Strangely, it's quite the opposite. And even more strangely, I am getting up earlier (god I am getting old) so my days should feel longer than ever. Yet, they seem to jump instantaneously from: coffee at 8am. Blink. 11am, time for food. Send a few emails. 3pm. Wow it's 3pm, I should <insert something I wanted to get done today>. 5pm. What's for dinner? 10 pm. Wow another day gone. Midnight. Goodnight.
It's a cliche that time goes by faster as you get older. The question is, can we do anything about it? Most of the time we attribute it to being busy. The day runs out before we know it and we didn't get enough stuff checked off the 'To Do' list. But if I can't seem to get 24 hours out my days, when I have no work stress, no deadlines, no meetings, no interactions with people I don't want to interact with, no dealing with traffic or bosses or noisy, demanding kids...then who can? It seems time flies when you're having fun, or really busy, or not really busy, or ... just over 40? or 30? Maybe it's just the mathematics of each day becoming a smaller percentage of our lives as we get older so they feel shorter and shorter. Hmm, that's kind of depressing, Jeannie. But I would be interested in people's thoughts on this: Can we ever feel like we have enough time?
Ok enough of that. Back to me. I went through days 7-9 after chemo, what are normally the worst days, feeling pretty good. So much so, I called the nurse because I was concerned. Maybe the chemo wasn't working. Maybe they gave me the wrong stuff. Maybe they gave me a placebo instead of chemo. She laughed at the latter two suggestions and assured me that I was given "the right stuff." I can attest to the fact that they are pretty careful about that sort of thing. When I received my last treatment, as part of their process they have two separate nurses come by and verify that I am who I'm supposed to be and the drug "package" is the one intended for me. This is a good thing, but the scary part is that you know they must have implemented this process (which we were told was fairly recently) because a mistake had been made in the past! Yikes!
Anyway, the nurse said that sometimes the side effects just don't hit some people, and to enjoy it while I can. It may not be the same after the next treatment, but it's definitely a good thing and nothing to worry about. AWESOME! I can't say I got off completely unscathed. I probably jinxed myself by calling the nurse with claims of feeling no side effects. Shortly after talking to her, I had a few achy days, and unlike the first round, did have some side effects from the GCSF injections. The GCSF makes your body produce more white blood cells inside your bones, but there's only so much room in there. So your bones hurt, and it feels strange... like growing pains. For a few days, it hurt quite a bit. I was grumpy on those days.
When I was feeling good I went out quite a bit and managed to pick up a cold. It's just a stuffy and runny nose. I'm lucky there is no cough or something that could develop into a more dangerous thing. But lesson learned - I was pushing my luck and will stay in for a while, as most of Calgary is these days anyway.
Hopefully we'll be out of the deep freeze next week when I have to go back to the Foothills Hospital for treatment #3. I hate having to go there in the early AM when it's -27 out...I did that too many times. Plus - what is up with the parking there?? How can a major hospital with a world-class cancer center and the best cardiology department in the city, get away with a parking lot that is CASH ONLY?!? Like, really? It's 2011. The people going there are dealing with serious illnesses. C'mon. Get a f'n debit/credit machine.
Whoa! 11am. Time for food.
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