Hello World -
This is the Elizabeth/Katrina hybrid. So far, i have not noticed any weird melding symptoms. I'm also not noticing too many chemo symptoms. I got to Ericas house on Saturday. It smelled of cleaning solution and it sparkled. No, really. It hurt my eyes.
One of the first things Erica and I did was sit down and lay out my meds. And oh do I have a lot of meds. I have antibiotics, I have anti nausea, antacids, potasium, magnesium, vitamins, 2 different immunosuppresents, drinks, rinses, pastes and shots. I take 30 pills everyday. I swish, spit or swallow, 4 different liquids and I shoot myself in the leg everynight.
Now, ask me which one of these I dislike the most. I have to drink this awful stuff. I only need to have 5 ml. of it. But I would gladly take 30 more pills a day if I could skip that one drink. Here let me describe it for you. First, you have to shake it. Supposedly this helps it to be a cohesive liquid. (Then explain the lumps!)
OK. I want everyone to think back to 2nd grade. You there? Good. Now I want you to remember art class. The art teacher goes and pulls out the giant containers of paint. She pours the ridiculously thick mass of paint into little containers and hands you a huge paint brush to paint with. You dip the brush into the paint and then glob it on to the paper, trying to push out the lumps with the brush as you paint the petals of a flower. Then you go for the yellow paint. That bright yellow paint that is perfect for a sun. But instead of dipping your brush into it, you drink it. It coats your mouth and then sickeningly slides down your throat. After realizing that you drank the foul tasting paint, you scream and have hysterics until the teacher hands you some water (and/ or calls poison control) But the water doesn't help. The taste is stuck along the insides of your cheeks and has coated the top of your tongue. It ruins your day, and it makes every meal taste awful. You have trouble not gagging and.....Oh. So, you get the picture? You don't need anymore of a description? OK
For the most part, the rest of the week has been uneventful. I had an appointment this morning for blood work and my final round of metho( an immuno suppresent) However, as soon as mom started driving, I started to get nauseas. It was a very long ride in. But as soon as we got to Dana Farber, they got me in for my bloods and then set me up in a private room. My counts came back fine, and the nurse I had an appointment came and met me in the private room. I havn’t been drinking enough, but that is easy enough to remedy.
The final cool thing about Dana? They food you. They feed everyone. In fact, they are food pushers. Mom and I were about 5 minutes from leaving. It was shortly after noon and we were just finishing up some ativan to help with the nausea on the way home. A nurse came by with a giant rolling cart, over flowing with food. She told us it was lunch time and she asked what we wanted. I informed her that I couldn'thave any of the fruit or sandwiches, because of my special diet, but she just reached into the back section for transplant food. Then she and my chemo nurse, proceed to foist sandwich after granola, after cookie after, pretzels at me. They were going to feed mom to, but she declined. It was really very cool.
So, that’s really all I got for now. One final shout out. Thanks to Lisa C for the visit, cookies and mac n’ cheese. (We had it for dinner tonight. It was great) And to everyone who is sending cards…thanks. I love getting mail. I usually get 3 cards a day and Erica and Drew get a flyer. (Most of those cards are from Caroline…she’s a nut)
That’s all for now. I better post this before Katrina drives up here and takes back her stem cells.
-Elizbeth