Day 2 is in the books! We had a relatively calm day with our second day of treatment of the cycle. This cycle has actually been quite different from our first in one very important way – much less pain. Our first cycle was more challenging because Tom was just coming off his port surgery so he was taking a lot more medication than he is now because we are just getting chemo prep/chemo drugs during treatment. It may not seem like that big of a deal, but it does make him less of a medication zombie and helps reduce his foggy head feeling. He’s feeling quite well considering we are already done with day two, but during our first round of treatment day two into day three was the toughest for him and when it really started to “hit” him.
Speaking of hitting him, I got to poke him again tonight with his needle, and he says it was less painful than yesterday. When I did it the first time I was nervous so I went slow - the trick to these shots is to make them quick -so jack be nimble, jack be quick he got that shot fast tonight. Regardless of his (alleged) pain, my glove snaps were perfect this evening.
The hardest part of his day was the end of the Cubs post-season run to the World Series. I have to say it’s actually kind of sweet to hear the different rooms cheering and providing some joy to these otherwise quiet halls. As I was walking down to the nurse’s station tonight an older gentleman was here with his loved one and he had chatted with Tom & I earlier in the evening when we were out on our evening hallway stroll. When he saw me walking to the nurses station (during the game), he was also in the hall again and commented that he heard Tom clapping and was hoping they could pull off the win for him. We chatted for a bit, and he showed me an actual card in his wallet that anointed him as a lifelong Cubs fan - he got the card in 1954 at his first game - I'm impressed, mostly because I can't find a gift card that I know is in my wallet and he readily pulled out a card he's had for over 50 years. Anyway, he then went on to tell me how much it hurt his heart to see such a young couple fighting such a tough disease and that we had caught him off guard earlier when he first saw us taking our stroll. Yes, we are young. Yes, we don’t look like your average couple in the oncology unit. However, I wouldn’t wish this on anyone, at any age, including my worst enemy. If anything, we are lucky to be fighting this at a younger age because Tom’s body has the ability to fight it and he & I will be stronger than ever when it’s all over. This gentleman was not the first to react this way, and I’m sure he won’t’ be the last – but we’re going to beat this - and we might as well enjoy people referring to us as young. :)
Anyway, the best way to summarize our day is the below photo of a t-shirt that his aunt gifted him today. No truer words have been said, and cancer’s got nothing on us! More to come tomorrow…
Speaking of hitting him, I got to poke him again tonight with his needle, and he says it was less painful than yesterday. When I did it the first time I was nervous so I went slow - the trick to these shots is to make them quick -so jack be nimble, jack be quick he got that shot fast tonight. Regardless of his (alleged) pain, my glove snaps were perfect this evening.
The hardest part of his day was the end of the Cubs post-season run to the World Series. I have to say it’s actually kind of sweet to hear the different rooms cheering and providing some joy to these otherwise quiet halls. As I was walking down to the nurse’s station tonight an older gentleman was here with his loved one and he had chatted with Tom & I earlier in the evening when we were out on our evening hallway stroll. When he saw me walking to the nurses station (during the game), he was also in the hall again and commented that he heard Tom clapping and was hoping they could pull off the win for him. We chatted for a bit, and he showed me an actual card in his wallet that anointed him as a lifelong Cubs fan - he got the card in 1954 at his first game - I'm impressed, mostly because I can't find a gift card that I know is in my wallet and he readily pulled out a card he's had for over 50 years. Anyway, he then went on to tell me how much it hurt his heart to see such a young couple fighting such a tough disease and that we had caught him off guard earlier when he first saw us taking our stroll. Yes, we are young. Yes, we don’t look like your average couple in the oncology unit. However, I wouldn’t wish this on anyone, at any age, including my worst enemy. If anything, we are lucky to be fighting this at a younger age because Tom’s body has the ability to fight it and he & I will be stronger than ever when it’s all over. This gentleman was not the first to react this way, and I’m sure he won’t’ be the last – but we’re going to beat this - and we might as well enjoy people referring to us as young. :)
Anyway, the best way to summarize our day is the below photo of a t-shirt that his aunt gifted him today. No truer words have been said, and cancer’s got nothing on us! More to come tomorrow…