Saturday, June 28, 2008

Skipping Appts/Art Therapy/Kate goes Home.....

This entry is written for the dates Wed. June 4th to Tues. June 10th, basically the 2nd week after being discharged from the hospital. As I said, the mucositis was finally slowing down, but I did have a scary relapse of it on Wed 6/4. The hellacious diarrhea and the throwing up of the evil mucousy foreign monster matter, returned for a little encore this morning, but after it was over, I felt halfway decent the rest of the day. It really bummed me out though, because you begin to think you're on the mend, and then BOOM!......gotcha. Damn Chemo! My weight on 6/4 was 99.6. After the morning "episode" though, like I said, I did start feeling a bit better. It turned out to be my last "hurrah", thank goodness. On Thur. 6/5, I had my usual appt at the BMT clinic. I weighed 98.4 and my blood pressure, lab work and electrolytes are A-OK, so no IV's needed today.....YAY! Kate and I had seen that Moffitt has many kinds of "alternative" therapies they offer to cancer patients and their families, like Art Therapy and Music Therapy, Massage, Acupuncture etc. Well, we had been wanting to attend an Art Therapy class as we had gone by the studio before and it had some really fun looking pieces of artwork in there, and today, since I didn't have a "drip" and it was at the same time we were leaving the BMT clinic, we went to the floor where the Art Room was located and went in. There were 2 women there.....one was the Art Therapist and the other woman was a volunteer. The volunteer had been there for many years and got involved volunteering as her husband was a cancer patient there and she herself was an artist, so she willingly and lovingly volunteered her time at Moffitt. Our session began with a beautiful meditation led by the Art Therapist and then she explained that we would be "painting on silk" and that we were to open our minds to whatever was there and not to structure our artwork. Kate and I were there for about 2 hours, talking and painting and having a great time!! What a way to get your mind off cancer. I've always believed that pursuits of any kind whether it be writing, or art or meditation etc. is always a good way to nurture the soul......and Moffitt assisted us when we needed it. What a joy to see the finished product as well as enjoy our time with "new friends" familiar with the cancer world. There was also one other student in the class besides Kate and me......she had been a patient at Moffitt and still comes back for her check-ups and to frequently attend Art therapy classes because she said they meant so much to her when she was an in-patient and the classes helped with her healing. She was in her 30's and had ovarian cancer, but is doing well these days. She is now in my prayers. Kate and I made beautiful silk scarves that day and had a great time bonding with our new friends and each other!! On Friday 6/6, I went to the BMT clinic for a dressing change on my central line, and as usual they took my blood pressure, pulse and weight which was 99.2. I did not have to have my bloodwork drawn so as soon as my dressing change was done I was OFF for the entire day AND I DID NOT have to return to the clinic on Saturday 6/7 or Sunday 6/8!! WOO HOO!! So what's that tell you???? I AM GETTING BETTER AND BETTER if they don't want to see me that often!! On Monday 6/9 I had my usual BMT appt. They of course, do the usual with the weight (96.1) and blood pressure and blood draw. We then go back into a room and wait for my lab work to get back and then Dr. Laura comes in to discuss the lab results. (That's always the way a typical appt was). Laura comes in and we tell her how I'm doing and she asks her questions, etc and then she says that I am doing so well, that we will set up a discharge date. I almost rolled off the bed! Are you serious?? Am I actually nearing the end of this part of the journey?? WHOA .... She said I did not have to return to the BMT clinic tomorrow (Tues 6/10) and that I would have my usual appt at the BMT on Wed 6/11 with her and Dr. Ben and then on Thurs. 6/12 I would have an appt with the out-patient surgery dept to have the central line pulled out of my chest, and then I would be able to go home. I couldn't believe those words!! We were all so excited! So we all went back to the apt in a happy happy joy joy mood!! We got to talking about how I only had a few more days left and Kate really needed to get back home as she is starting her own business and had much work to do as her meeting with the pediatrician she was working with was on that following Monday. Long story short....we finally talked her into going home on Tuesday morning 6/5 because there was really nothing more to do that Mom and I couldn't handle. I was well enough that no one was giving me meds in the middle of the night for at least a week by now......no more "incidents" have occurred, I'm feeling better every day, so we would really only have our last appt with the doctors on Wed and the "pulling of the tube" on Thur and we're outta here ourselves!! So it was a sad, yet happy day when Kate was all packed and returned home on Tuesday 6/10. Mom and I are only 2 days behind her......YAY

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