Milestones

I reached a milestone yesterday... the last treatment (#4) of the 'A-C' (adrimyacin/cytoxcin combination).  And today will be my last Neulasta shot.  Now it's a 2 week wait while my body crashes and comes back to "normal", and then 12 straight weeks of Taxol treatments.  These (according to the infusion nurses) are a 'walk in the park' compared to the A-C treatments, so keep your fingers crossed.

The bummer is that I continue to have port problems.  The darn thing gets clogged and although the nurses can get the saline to push thru (because I can taste it), they can't get any blood on the return.  So we spend time while they inject some kind of 'draino' equivalent into it and then wait an hour for it to do its job.  In the meantime, they stick an IV into my arm to do my blood work (numbers have to be high enough or they won't go forward with the chemo) and start administering all the pre-meds.  I meet again with my surgeon, Dr. Kaufman, next week.  I think he just wants to make sure I'm still breathing, so I will definitely mention the port issue.

Last Wednesday night was "Ladies Night" at my CrossFit box.  It was my first attempted work out in over 3 weeks and boy howdy, have I gotten weak!  It was supposed to be 3 rounds of 5 different exercises, performed for a minute at each 'station'.  I made it through 2 rounds and was completely out of gas.  It's hard not to be disappointed, and it was a definite reality check as to how much these treatments really take out of me.  On the other hand, it was great to see all the ladies and feel part of that community again.

A Big Slice of Humble Pie

My support group never ceases to overwhelm, amaze, and humble me right down to the stubble on my head.
This Saturday, there is a CrossFit competition at a neighboring "box" (remember, we don't call them 'gyms') to help raise money for a local high school kid fighting cancer.  Members of the box I belong to (CrossFitX) are going there to compete, show support, and have a bit of fun.  I truly wish I was feeling strong enough to join them.
To show a bit of team spirit, the owner of CrossFitX had some t-shirts made and mentioned that there was going to be a "pink theme", in honor of me.  I was definitely touched.  Last night, lying in bed and doing a last scan of Facebook before I turned off the light, I saw post after post of my CrossFitX friends changing their profile pictures.  Our shirts had come in and the image brought me to tears.

Thank you Team CrossFitX for all of your love and support.  I am a better, stronger person - both inside and out - because of all of you.

A short hall pass to San Francisco



In case you don't know me, I'm an exhibition manager for The International Society of Optics and Photonics - and no, we don't make eye glasses.  Basically, I'm a logistics person.  Ever been to a boat show, or a home and garden show?  Ever wonder how all those exhibiting companies get placed where they are? Or who orders all of the aisle carpet, signage, access guards, floral, and such?  Yeah, probably not, but that's what I do.  And our biggest event is being held this week in San Francisco. When all of this first started, I was completely bummed that I may not be able to go to this event.  I've been going for the last 17 years - it's part of who I am.  It's what I do.  So I was more than thrilled that the nurses said it would be okay for me to go, as long as I don't do anything stupid.  Um.. define "stupid"?  :-)
I flew in on Thursday and came home on Monday.  Just enough time to help out with the move-in and set-up, and to have a chance to see some folks that I've known for years, but only see once a year.  It was so good to see these people and let them know I'm alright.  It was a much needed boost to both my mental health and my inner spirit.  There were some tears when I was packing up to leave, but I'm so glad I had a small respite from the Cancer World.

I do have to relay something that happened to me on my way home.  I was standing at the airport gate in San Francisco - just leaning against a pillar, waiting for them to start the boarding call, when a woman approached me and placed her hand on my arm.  She asked if I was a 'fellow sister fighting the fight?'.  When I replied that I was, she gave me a hug!

This 'club' obviously has more than it's fair share of members - and I'm just beginning to meet them.

Can't take credit for the photo - thank you Google Images