Sorry for the long delay in updates! These past few days have been a whirlwind as things have moved very quickly.
When I first went to the hospital, we were told by the staff that I would be in a hospital room for a month for my “induction” phase. In fact, the first weekend in the hospital was quite scary as it was hard to get any idea of what timelines were going to look like.
As it turns out, they were giving us the worst-case scenario in the hopes of not scaring us. Since the first weekend, the doctors have been astounded by my resilience and impressed by my health. Most people in my situation require a blood transfusion on the first day—but not me.
Suddenly, two days ago, they announced that I had to pack everything and that they would discharge me on Wednesday. Our family was scrambling for a little bit as we tried to move vehicles around in order to transport the stuff. The plan was that I would be transferred to the Ronald McDonald House right across the street from the hospital because I live too far from London to be safe at home.
Then, it turned out that there was a huge backlog at the Ronald McDonald House and there was no way I would be able to get a room there. It took many phone calls and conversations, but there were some very nice people who really helped to guide us through the transition and set us up in a temporary hotel about 10 minutes from the hospital.
I am now settled into a hotel room for the weekend. It is very nice—I can pretend it’s like a vacation! We will be moving again soon once they find a more permanent place for me to stay while I am weak.
Right now, I am feeling pretty good. My high school just had our final Music Night concert last night and they made a special effort to live stream it to me so I was able to watch. I was very involved in that so it was really uplifting for my spirits to participate.
Physically, the worst that I feel would be frequent nausea. I have medication that I’m supposed to to take, and it does help, but it’s still uncomfortable underneath. My muscles feel a bit weak and there is some joint pain. If that’s the worst it gets, I’ll count myself lucky!
A note to other people who may be experiencing the same thing—getting started eating is the hardest part. I almost never feel like taking the first bite of something. I have found that crackers, breadsticks, toast, and other dry things go down the best for me to whet my appetite. Having something in my stomach really helps with the nausea—the medication that I’m on is very touch on the stomach lining. Eating every 3—4 hours has been working well for me, and I’ve only had one night where physical discomfort prevented me from sleeping.
I’m scheduled for two more drugs tomorrow morning. The day that I get chemo isn’t usually that bad—my energy tends to dip a bit the day after and slowly recover. I have been walking around as much as I can and it seems to help.
In summary—I’m on track. I’m an outlier in many ways because my health is surprising to the doctors. I am in good spirits and good company. My life has definitely changed—I’m appreciative of the new perspective.