Day + 18
Quote of the Day:
"HOW YOU TREAT PEOPLE- WHETHER IT BE AN OLD FRIEND OR A TELLER AT THE BANK- IS INDICATIVE OF HOW YOU CAN EXPECT PEOPLE TO TREAT YOU."
-Deepak Chopra, M.D.
There is no medical news to report again until this coming Tuesday, when I go for blood work & a cleaning of my Hickman Line....so until then....my entry's will be more general.
Yesterday, Mom spent the day with me at my house. It was a rainy day, so we decided the best way to spend it would be to work on a puzzle & play some crib. In between, these strenuous activies, I napped!!! Does that sound like a vacation or what! Mom prepared my meals & left around 4:30pm.....I had another nap....
After working all day, Sue prepared a delicious supper of Salmon Shish Kabobs & Rice.....I am somewhat useless these days, because I get tired & dizzy quite easily when I attempt to do things for myself.....WHAT AN EXCUSE!! ......But it is true.
Almost every time I see someone for the first time since my transplant, they say something like "You look great!".......but the truth of the matter is that my insides aren't looking or feeling as good as my outside.......my counts are still well below normal & my immune system is still very vulnerable. Like I said in earlier posts, many people take up to a full year & sometimes more to fully recover from a Stem Cell Transplant......though, I do hope to be back in full swing earlier than a year! Until that time, I may not be my smart ass self all the time.....& I will improve my listening skills since I won't always be able to talk as much as I usually do!!!.......but that is probably a good thing!
The biggest difficulty I am going to face will be my fear of recurrance. I have to control this fear so that it doesn't control me. I have to tell myself everyday & several times a day that I will get better......but it is hard sometimes when you are tired & feeling weak.....or when a tickle of a cough gets your imagination going ( a cough was a major symptom of my original diagnosis )......it will continue to be a challenge keep negative thoughts away & to try to enjoy each day to the best of my ability.
Anyway, today was a very good day! We watched a movie this morning, Sue made a delicious breakfast & we worked on the puzzle. The sun came out part way through the day.....I did one productive job in helping Sue attach a hose holder to the side of our house.......now we will have a hose handy for me to water our gardens in the front of the house. Sue mowed & fertilized the lawn......& now we are heading off to Mary's house (my sister's mother-in-laws)for her 65th birthday party. Mary & Chummy (her husband) were the one's who picked out & planted our garden just before I went in the hospital......we are very appreciative that they took the time to do that for us!!!!
That is it in a nutshell!!
"HOW YOU TREAT PEOPLE- WHETHER IT BE AN OLD FRIEND OR A TELLER AT THE BANK- IS INDICATIVE OF HOW YOU CAN EXPECT PEOPLE TO TREAT YOU."
-Deepak Chopra, M.D.
There is no medical news to report again until this coming Tuesday, when I go for blood work & a cleaning of my Hickman Line....so until then....my entry's will be more general.
Yesterday, Mom spent the day with me at my house. It was a rainy day, so we decided the best way to spend it would be to work on a puzzle & play some crib. In between, these strenuous activies, I napped!!! Does that sound like a vacation or what! Mom prepared my meals & left around 4:30pm.....I had another nap....
After working all day, Sue prepared a delicious supper of Salmon Shish Kabobs & Rice.....I am somewhat useless these days, because I get tired & dizzy quite easily when I attempt to do things for myself.....WHAT AN EXCUSE!! ......But it is true.
Almost every time I see someone for the first time since my transplant, they say something like "You look great!".......but the truth of the matter is that my insides aren't looking or feeling as good as my outside.......my counts are still well below normal & my immune system is still very vulnerable. Like I said in earlier posts, many people take up to a full year & sometimes more to fully recover from a Stem Cell Transplant......though, I do hope to be back in full swing earlier than a year! Until that time, I may not be my smart ass self all the time.....& I will improve my listening skills since I won't always be able to talk as much as I usually do!!!.......but that is probably a good thing!
The biggest difficulty I am going to face will be my fear of recurrance. I have to control this fear so that it doesn't control me. I have to tell myself everyday & several times a day that I will get better......but it is hard sometimes when you are tired & feeling weak.....or when a tickle of a cough gets your imagination going ( a cough was a major symptom of my original diagnosis )......it will continue to be a challenge keep negative thoughts away & to try to enjoy each day to the best of my ability.
Anyway, today was a very good day! We watched a movie this morning, Sue made a delicious breakfast & we worked on the puzzle. The sun came out part way through the day.....I did one productive job in helping Sue attach a hose holder to the side of our house.......now we will have a hose handy for me to water our gardens in the front of the house. Sue mowed & fertilized the lawn......& now we are heading off to Mary's house (my sister's mother-in-laws)for her 65th birthday party. Mary & Chummy (her husband) were the one's who picked out & planted our garden just before I went in the hospital......we are very appreciative that they took the time to do that for us!!!!
That is it in a nutshell!!
posted by Angie | 3:19 pm
2 Comments:
Hi Angie,
We both hope you start to get some energy back soon, it is amazing how you are staying so positive. You can and will beat this, you are one of the most focused people we know. We will try to call you Sunday to touch base with you directly. Here's hoping it will be a good day. Sleep well tonight.
Love D and L
Angie, I could so relate to the second to the last paragraph of this post. Relapse is terrifying, but no, we can't let the terror influence our emotions or inform our behaviors. I had someone tell me that I just had to put all of my faith in the treatment, and trust that it would give me a cure. Obviously this person had good intentions, but they had no way of knowing the reality of uncertainty that exists when you've relapsed or your treatment has been escalated because the first batch didn't work. I think it's easier to have blind faith the first go-round. I say now that I don't really have faith so much as belief. I believe in my strength and resilience, my stamina and heart. I also believe in the science behind this treatment, as it's clear you do. After that, you just hope you've logged some karma points, you know? ;)
But I'm with you on the "not letting it rule you" thing. I think each of us has to battle those thoughts and find the balance between a healthy outlet for the inevitable anxiety and getting on with our own best New Normals, while trying to incorporate this learning experience and take all possible positives into our post-SCT lives.
I think we're both going to be just fine, Angie. And increasing your listening skills just can't ever be a bad thing. ;)
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