Laurie White’s Blog

good news? I talked to the nurse educator today about the results of my echocardiogram last week. (I was calling to make sure I could have wine Wednesday night and breakfast Thursday.) She said it was just great.

But no news is also no news. Since my PET scan results werre supposed to be in Monday, I asked how they were. She laughed and said they never were delivered on time and she didn’t have them yet. But when they’re delivered, if anything’s wrong, I’ll hear about it.

Ya know, these people have to deliver so much bad news, you’d think they’d let me know the PET scan is okay. But for now, that’s what I’m going to believe.

My first chemo session should be over in 48 hours. Not that I’m counting or anything…

I feel so blessed to have so many people, even some I’ve never met, supporting me through this. (And I feel so guilty that I’m not able to correspond with each of you and thank you all personally.) Around Thursday, my perspective seemed to change. For the better I think.

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I was not a cancer patient today. It was a very good day.

Sure, I still have cancer, but I got to focus on another part of my life instead of the cancer. It was a very good day.

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Six days! I’m not scheduled to see another doctor or specialist or medical professional of any type for 6 days!

And today, with just two appointments wasn’t all that bad.

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Okay,

So I’m having a PET scan in the morning. Fine.

They want me to drink lots of water today and up until the time of the scan. (I think the exact wording was “as much as you can hold.”) Fine.

They’ll inject me with a radiopharmaceutical. Fine.

They’ll then restrict “movement, reading, or any other activity” for 90 to 150 minutes. (Reading’s an activity!?) After all that water? Not so fine.

But, hey, if this is what I’m worrying about, it should be fine.

Well, I had three appointments today designed to get me ready for chemo next week.

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Yes, I did see 3 more health professionals today, but is that really news? I’ll get to the gory details in a later post.

My big news is that I have a handicapped parking permit! No fuss, no hassle and I think I jumped ahead of 10 people in the DMV line to get it. (I think I was at the “special needs” line, while they were in the “driver’s license” line…I had an I number–I913, while they all had B numbers, like B234.)

The bad news is the doctor had to check a box explaining why I needed the permit. Instead of the “Is so ambulatory disabled that he or she cannot walk 200 feet without stopping to rest,” he checked the “Cannot walk with the use of assistance from a brace, a cane, a crutch, another person, a prosthetic device, a wheelchair, or other assistive device” box. My, this chemo may be interesting.

(Also intersting, one of the boxes is “Is a blind individual…” Not too disturbing ’til you realize you need a driver’s license to get the permit.)

I really don’t intend to use the permit anywhere other than at school when chemo sessions leave me tired, where there’s a lovely line of unused handicapped spaces a minute’s walk from my office. As a friend said, “You’ll have better things to spend your energy on.”

But oh, what a test of character! On the drive home, I kept trying to remember the wording of an old saying related to this. The Internet is great…I found it in just minutes once I got home and greeted the beasties. I wasn’t surprised to see it attributed to Piet Hein:

Yes, he was tempted, and he fell,
but judge him not too hard.
It does take character to sell
elastic by the yard.

Okay, so it was a rough morning. But Charlie took me out for lunch (to Logan’s, since they have good salads and I’ll be off salads real soon). He asked if I was bringing IkeGetDownFromThere or Linus to my PET scan. I was so stressed, it took me a minute to figure out what he meant.

And Charlie doesn’t like puns, so I didn’t expect it from him. So, I had to share with him an old story. He didn’t appreciate it, but if you like (accept? groan at?) puns, read on!

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You know, I never really liked roller coasters.

And I really hated that ratchetting up to the top of the first hill. Once I get to the top and see what lies ahead though, it’s usually not that bad (well, I do need a first scream).

I think we finally reached the top of that first hill and can see what lies ahead. Not ready to scream yet, but soon.

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Well, Charlie says it’s wrong to use “Ike” and “learn” in the same sentence. I think he’s right.

Ike went to the pet blessing at St. Francis the first Sunday in October. He took being blessed too seriously I think and when I drew a bath the next day, he was sure he could walk on water. He stepped onto the surface of the water, pretty as you please, as was a bit shocked it didn’t hold his weight.

Well, Charlie drew a bath today (it’s been a week since surgery–I can have a bath!) and, you guessed it, Ike tried again to walk across the tub.

He’s not at all unnerved by being wet (which makes using a SuperSoaker as a cat training device useless) and spent the next hour drying off in the middle of the bathroom.