Latest from Marcia 4-11-06
4-11-06
Hello, folks, I'm home again. I finished my first course of chemotherapy yesterday and it was not as bad as I though it might be. Not great, mind you, but I think I did OK. They connected me up to about eight different bags of chemicals, suspended from a pole that accompanied me everywhere I went and I spent 4 days at UCSF doing laps around the halls, sleeping, reading, sleeping, listening to music and staring out the window.
They gave me drugs to counteract the effects of the other drugs they gave me and while I felt pretty queasy much of the time, it was not too bad. I had five big windows around my bed so that I woke to see the sun rising over a eucalyptus forest in the mornings, and when I got out of bed I could gaze upon fabulous views of the city. (At last, I get a penthouse suite.) I was on a floor with leukemia and lymphoma patients doing long stints of chemo and getting bone marrow transplants, and it was very humbling. I must inform you all that this is not, after all, the most brutal end of the treatment spectrum, and I think I'm getting off fairly lightly, as these things go.
The people at UC - staff and fellow patients - were all amazing. I felt like I was in very good hands, and that helped a lot. I was either such a pain in the neck or such a good sport that they decided to speed up my last meds so I could go home Monday afternoon instead of Tuesday morning. Michael and Zane had left to spend the day at LegoLand in San Diego -- a long-deferred birthday gift -- so Nancy and Maddy came to get me. Despite a week - no, a month! - of steady rain, the sun had come out and there were gorgeous clouds in a blue sky, so off we went to the top of Tank Hill to breathe in some real air (!!) and enjoy what was left of the day. It's really, really good to be home.
I have heard from so many of you, one way or another, and I thank you again for sticking with me through this. I'm taking it slowly and mostly resting so I can go back in three weeks and do it all over again, ugh. But never mind that now. I'm glad to be home with my wonderful family and all the fabulous vibes you've been sending my way.
Love, Marcia
Hello, folks, I'm home again. I finished my first course of chemotherapy yesterday and it was not as bad as I though it might be. Not great, mind you, but I think I did OK. They connected me up to about eight different bags of chemicals, suspended from a pole that accompanied me everywhere I went and I spent 4 days at UCSF doing laps around the halls, sleeping, reading, sleeping, listening to music and staring out the window.
They gave me drugs to counteract the effects of the other drugs they gave me and while I felt pretty queasy much of the time, it was not too bad. I had five big windows around my bed so that I woke to see the sun rising over a eucalyptus forest in the mornings, and when I got out of bed I could gaze upon fabulous views of the city. (At last, I get a penthouse suite.) I was on a floor with leukemia and lymphoma patients doing long stints of chemo and getting bone marrow transplants, and it was very humbling. I must inform you all that this is not, after all, the most brutal end of the treatment spectrum, and I think I'm getting off fairly lightly, as these things go.
The people at UC - staff and fellow patients - were all amazing. I felt like I was in very good hands, and that helped a lot. I was either such a pain in the neck or such a good sport that they decided to speed up my last meds so I could go home Monday afternoon instead of Tuesday morning. Michael and Zane had left to spend the day at LegoLand in San Diego -- a long-deferred birthday gift -- so Nancy and Maddy came to get me. Despite a week - no, a month! - of steady rain, the sun had come out and there were gorgeous clouds in a blue sky, so off we went to the top of Tank Hill to breathe in some real air (!!) and enjoy what was left of the day. It's really, really good to be home.
I have heard from so many of you, one way or another, and I thank you again for sticking with me through this. I'm taking it slowly and mostly resting so I can go back in three weeks and do it all over again, ugh. But never mind that now. I'm glad to be home with my wonderful family and all the fabulous vibes you've been sending my way.
Love, Marcia
posted by HoJo at 7:18 PM
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