March Madness

I was reading back on my original posts and realized that 4 years ago I was enjoying (well not sure if I would say enjoying, but making lemonade out of lemons) of having some down time and watching March madness while recovering from surgeries. I never thought I would find myself with time on my hands (well not until retirement) to be able to sit and watch the games again.  But there I was, sitting in an infusion room watching Gonzaga play in the first round of March Madness while I got my 4th round of chemotherapy and second round of immunotherapy treatment.  And the room was packed, every TV on, and every TV turned to the game (we are in Spokane after all).  I thought at first I would only be able to listen to it because the only chairs available did not have a view of the televisions, but after I sat down, a woman finished her treatment and I was able to snag her chair.  It is sad that so many of us are undergoing treatment, although that was the busiest I have ever seen that room.  Maybe everyone scheduled it so they could sit and watch the game?  After some nail biting (which my nails finally have recovered some from radiation and don’t seem as brittle) Gonzaga pulled off the win.  I have to say it did make the treatment go a lot faster, and since I can’t use my hands during treatment because I wear these cold gloves and socks to prevent neuropathy – it was kind of nice.  It was the first week they actually had the TV’s on. Gonzaga is one of the few top seeded teams to actually survive a bracket busting March madness, so next week will be another fun week of games to watch while sitting getting treatment.

Aside from the excitement of the game it was a blissfully quiet week.  My doctor was impressed with how good my blood work looks and how well rested I looked in comparison to the week before (did I really look that bad???), she said I was a model patient (gold star for me).  I’m happy about the blood work as I haven’t had a break from the news, radiation, rolling into infusion treatment, the port placement, low vitamin D levels, high steroid treatments, and low activity levels.  I’ve been trying to be a good little patient and it seems that so far it is paying off. However, as soon as she said I looked great, I got home and couldn’t sleep, felt exhausted, my mouth is like the Sahara and I hit a wall.  I had to turn down a visitor so I could just relax and recover.  Brent hit up Dr. Google and is determining that the immunotherapy might be what is really kicking my butt and since I only get that every 3rd treatment, it makes sense that all of a sudden this week I felt different.  Finally 3 days post treatment I’m starting to get back to where I was (pre-immunotherapy, not pre-crap news).  I’m still trying to do my small little walks every day, I’m weaning myself off of the steroids hoping I can get rid of those which cause a lot of my muscle weakness, and if I can remedy my Vitamin D deficiency which also affects that muscle weakness, I might be able to spend more time being physically active which may help my overall well-being. I have to tell myself that this is going to be a longer road to recovery than last time, and last time I was extremely impatient (well I’m always extremely impatient, but this will require even more patience). So I need to just slow down, enjoy the games, the days, the laughs with friends, the sound of the rain falling, the sun peeking through – there is no hurry to be anywhere right now – just embrace this time you get to relax and enjoy everything, even if your body is fighting you.

So speaking of just enjoying things, my good friend Joz is wanting to throw a party for me.  I want to be able to just see everyone and thank them for all of the support they have given me, the outpouring has been unbelievable.  The messages, food, emotional, financial, spiritual, etc – it is just overwhelming. And people still are willing and wanting to do more.  So we have agreed that on April 2nd (tentatively), if you find yourself near Stites, ID and want to order up a pizza or a drink, I’ll be down at the Silver Dollar ready to share a laugh, a thank you, a smile with whomever wants to stop in.  From noon to four out on the patio we will be having a good time, laughing and enjoying life.  Appreciating everyone and everything that is right in this world and telling cancer to go F itself.  So if you can, I hope to see you there.