Chemo Party!

It started in the waiting room. I signed in, went to the bathroom and changed out of my sweaty biking clothes into dry ones, sat down in the waiting room, and a woman sat down accross from me, took a look at my helmet, and said "YOu're the woman who bikes to chemo? My boyfriend told me about you." We talked about biking for awhile -- then her boyfriend sat down and joined the conversation. Then I got called, weighed, and told to choose any bed I wanted. (There are chairs, too -- but I find the beds more comfortable -- like having a slumber party in the daytime! Of course I have never managed to nap -- though I have meant to. I even brought earplugs yesterday.....and Honey we had a party! I guess it worked kinda like bringing an umbrella so it doesn't rain....)

Anyhow I got into the room with the beds and my friend Christine was there already with an empty bed next to her -- so I got into it. Nancy was next to her, who I don't know as well but have talked to a number of times. (Christine is almost my age, married with one son a year younger than Emily. Nancy is older and widowed and that's all I know.) Then BOnnie came in. Omigod, I thought I was irreverent.... but this woman was great. She was short and broad shouldered, but when she talked I thought of Vickie. We were talking about reconstruction, which is something I'm revisiting now, more because the time to decide about it is closing in on me than because I want it, I think. BOnnie had surgery and reconstruction before her chemo (which is an earlier stage thing), so had advice for me. She mentioned this surgeon I keep hearing about at Georgetown -- people love him. HER endorsement was funnier than most, though. She said "Oh yeah, definitely go see him. He's very non threatening. He's good. And I don't even like men!" (I guess that doesn't necessarily explain what I like about her. I think it's the unashamed way she presented her unusual opinion. I really like people with in-your-face attitudes, who are so clearly who they seem to be with no hidden agendas..... I like people who don't fit in, too, and who aren't worried about it.)

By the time Joan got there she couldn't find me! I saw her looking around lost and waved and called out "Hey Joan, over here!" ANyone would have thought we were at a peace rally or something, rather than having chemotherapy! (Joan told me later that she came in looking for color, and that's how she ended up over by Nancy's bed. I was in the middle of the commotion ... she was close!

The guy with the girlfriend who started talking with me in the waiting room took the next bed on my other side -- I had thought they'd join the party, but the nurse drew the curtain, and they left it drawn. His girlfriend came to say goodbye when they left, though. She visits from out of state for his chemo, so I think they wanted some quality time together -- and I don't know what kinds of meds he's getting; maybe they makes him sick.

WE (the breast cancer crowd) are all on taxol, which doesn't do anything while it's going in, usually -- and we get benadryl and decadron first, which is a little like drinking coffee after an evening of alcohol.... we're up and down at the same time!

Around the time that Joan came another woman came by, a social worker, who is involved with a group called SOS. I made up words for the acronym (sex on saturdays?) She said it stands for Survivors Offering Support. (She agreed that sex on saturdays is good, too Nancy wanted to know how she was expected to do that, since she's widowed....) I signed up to get a "bosom buddy" (har har har) who has already sent me an email -- so I will talk with her either tonight or, hmm, look at the time, maybe tomorrow instead. Denise, the social worker, said she thought she could find me a survivor who had had a mastectomy without reconstruction, since that's what I want to have -- so maybe she did! I mean, if it's going to look fake and taste fake and feel fake, how about if I just stick a sock in my bra? Or maybe an apple, if I'm going on a bikeride..... I never seem to have enough pockets for all the food I want to bring! (My father in law thinks I should try a sandwich. It would be a funny shape, it might squish.... I could deal with that if I LIKED sandwiches!) What I really want to figure out is how to get a watermelon in there..... I really like watermelons. I guess that would be a bit large, though, huh?

Next week is my last chemo. Can you believe it? JUST when it's getting to be fun! We will have a real party, Christine said, to celebrate. We will bring stuff to share. Maybe I will make something good to eat..... of course if I make what I can eat no one else will like it. Maybe I should just stick a big watermelon into my backpack. It would be cumbersome, but it would fit better there than in my bra! I wonder how long it would take me to bike the 6 miles to Georgetown with that kind of weight in my backpack.......