Progress Report 2-3

Third treatment; the week flew by. I had a quite week with no workers in the house which was perfect since Sharbel was home and surprised me by flying in Yasmine on Thursday to attend the yearly phenomenal fundraising event of the pink ribbon luncheon. Needless to say I was thrilled to have her for a few days. Karim’s Jamie was also in town that weekend and we all celebrated by taking a trip up to Ikea, an outing that I think really on Jamie and I truly appreciated. Both Sharbel and Yasmine left on Sunday leaving me in partial withdrawal, grateful to at least still have Karim around. So as you see I continued to feel good and my blood work came back pretty descent with the WBC slightly lower which was better than expected. I told Randy once more that I am not sure who he is treating because I don’t feel the least ill. He replied that this is a common trait among patients who do really well, giving me an extra boost of confidence. What I love about Randy is that he understands the way I think and I believe has seen enough in his long experienced practice to know the limitation of the science and the importance of the spirit which was particularly high that day. Maybe it had to do with resuming the construction or more accurately the demolition of bathroom number two, as projects tend to give me a high, but more likely it had to do with the Tai Chi class I went to on Saturday morning. Master Lao who is an ancient Chinese instructor that looks about 10 years younger than his mid 80 age is very forceful when it comes to positive thinking. He ingrains it in us with drills of “GIVING UP IS NOT AN OPTION” stressing the importance of meditation and breathing and ending the practice by asking us all “HOW DO YOU FEEL” to which we respond enthusiastically and in unison “TERRIFIC”. The Tai Chi practice itself is wonderful and I find it really easy to follow; mind you we are only learning the basic moves but it comes pretty naturally and I feel transported into another dimension when doing it. Sharbel is in London this week so my dear friend and neighbor Nadine offered to go with me. This may sound really strange to all but can you believe I actually have a good time at the clinic? With the shorter treatment time, it is just long enough to make a visit pleasant. Nadine and I caught up on our family stories, wedding planning updates, remodeling and her travels. We also chatted with the nurses. I had a late appointment so I was pretty much the only one there while they were almost closing shop. Andee the nurse got us some ice from the special stash reserved for the doctors and staff and we discussed the need to get an ice machine for the “bar”. No they don’t serve pina coladas but I think I may suggest that next time. Sarah was my attending nurse this time. As she showed me the label on the drug to check the name and birthday I noticed for the first time that along with my name, the doctor’s name and the drug name there is also the attending nurse’s name. I commented that she was my partner on that day along with the doctor and the drug to which she nodded with a smile. She sat to push the chemo into the IV and of course we chat. She educated me on how the drug is delivered into my system as we talked about visualizing it killing the nasty suckers, just as the periwinkle plant from which it is derived will choke other plants around it. Sarah is another one of the angels working here. She told us how her retired husband keeps asking her when she will retire. “Never” she answers. She works two days a week and loves her job and her amazing patients. No Sarah you are amazing. Thank you.
Much love