The Week Ahead

I had better write this while I have the energy. This is going to be a tough week and I feel as good now as I will for the next seven days.

I start my second round of chemo today. I go in every day for the next five days and get an infusion of Fludara. While the side effects are pretty minor on the scale of all the bad things that can happen to chemo recipients, I will feel progressively worse as the week goes on. By Friday and Saturday, I will be in the proverbial dumpster. Fortunately, those effects are short lived and I should be feeling better by Sunday and back to “normal by Monday. That’s the script anyway. One never knows though.

The mystery pain in my throat is still there and that is a little worrisome when I know that the next round of chemo will make me even more susceptible to infection. It hasn’t gotten any worse over the last few days, but I am not sure it has gotten any better either. I’ll be discussing it with my oncologist today when I see him prior to beginning my treatment.

In other news, J worked his first state fair shift last night with a friend. They “manned” the Saints booth in the grandstand. The Saints are the local minor league ball team that C and I used to watch on a regular basis. When the team first was formed, we shared season tickets as part of a group from her law firm. It was great fun.

When we moved to Sxxxxx, a family moved into the house right behind ours and the Mom is the groundskeeper for the team/stadium. It was their daughter who asked J to come and work the booth last night.

J is going to have a busy week. He is taking a class every day at the Science Museum and as luck would have it, it coincides with my daily chemo schedule which means that we have had to work out a network of drop-off’s and pick-up’s for the whole week. What a pain. I want to thank all of the folks who are taking a chunk out of their daily routine to give us a hand with this. J’s class was set up long ago of course and when my chemo sessions were initially scheduled, there was no flexibility to shift them one week in either direction to accommodate the Science Museum class. It reinforces the realization that we cannot live alone as an island. We are part of a larger “family,” a community that helps to take care of each other. I don’t know how we would survive without that. Thank you.

P.