Now to those of you who may feel I'm not absolutely thrilled to celebrate my illustrious 43rd birthday on the day I check in to start the 2nd week of Interleukin 2 infusions... realize it's all a matter of perspective.
There really is no other way to view this than for me to be super grateful to be on my current path, getting the best treatment possible, working with such great folks who have given me so much support and reassurance to not be worried about the office, and my amazing family and friends who have been taking care of everything I need and who keep expressing the willingness to do so for the coming months.
Plus it's kind of funny to see the attempt to hide to horrified expressions on the various hospital folks who notice it's my birthday when they're asking me for my information :)
In the immortal words of Carrie Fisher ... it's not over yet! God I love to spew random Star Wars quotes (here's a good one for an iffy first date... "You came here in that thing? You're braver than I thought...")
Man I do have to say... ouch to getting a main line catheter stuck into your right shoulder! Although this time Dr Mann (what a great name) did a better job than Dr Mc Beardie did last time (no complaints as he didn't deflate my lung!). It's just not a place where you should ever feel ANYTHING. That's what our dermal layer is for... touching. Not the stuff on the inside man... (or rather ... Dr Mann... lol). Dang it - I should have acted all Cheech n Chong on him while he was giving me that lovely sensation. Yo Dr Man - it's Dave, open up, I got the stuff! heh
My mom and sister are here for this week, and let me tell you... if you're ever fortunate to travel anywhere with the 2 of them make dang sure your car has room for a lot of groceries. You'll have to stop and hunt for the "special" popcicles (you know... David Lee couldn't eat brown M&M's cause there wasn't a surprise in them - Liz has her own special popcicle flavors that feature no surprise :) Oh and hotel pull out beds are just as comfy as they ever were... We drove up last night and they're staying in a residence inn just down the road from the hospital that gives a discount to people with family being treated.
I asked them to make some of my mom's yummy chocolate chip cookies to bring in for the staff in the cancer ward, and the came out great. Love my mom and sister! (that's more of a statement minus the who, or rather has an implied subject in place of the missing 'I,' rather than an imperative or command form usage indicating all who read this should indeed love my mom and sister - although that's not a bad idea.)
My nurse managed to secure a bed extension and a support mat for the bed (we found out about the extension on Thursday of the last treatment - nice timing). Apparently they run in short supply so it's a good thing I asked early.
Well wish me luck and know that I'm excited to get my second cycle of IL2 pumping into me. I mean hell, I managed to drop 10 lbs, get what resembles a chemical peel on my face and oh yeah... continue killing this stupid mystery melanoma bits that's in my lungs and lymph node.
And everyone enjoy the good weather that's starting - I would like to get out into it, but that wouldn't be the best advice at the moment :).
Until later,
Doss
Hey Doss,
ReplyDeleteHappy belated birthday! Good luck on round 2!
J and I are both thinking about you all the time.