Day 97 - Inspiration

As I was waiting in line to check into the infusion room today, a woman sitting near the check in window reached over and grabbed my hand (in a very nice, sweet and gentle way) so I walked closer to her.  She looked me square in the eye and said "I just want to tell you that you are beautiful and are a true inspiration to me.  I am just starting to lose my hair, and I am so happy to see you walking around without hair.  I saw you when you walked in earlier and just had to say something to you."  I cried.  I can tell that she is a kind person..her eyes say a lot, and she must be fairly newly diagnosed since she is still losing her hair, and it was so nice of her to say something.  I am glad that I provided her with inspiration, and she certainly provided the same to me.  Inspiration comes in many forms, and I have found them in unexpected places during this time in my life.

I hope that the above does not come across as me being egotistical or self-promoting because an ego is the furthest thing from my mind.  I am just glad that I was able to inspire someone who may have really needed it just as others have inspired me so much recently.  

As strange as this may sound, I don't see a lot of bald heads in my doctor's office.  I figure that this is the place where you can really let the old noggin shine, but most are covered up. It's such a personal thing, and you never really know how you will feel without hair until you are faced with not having it.

Chemo #6 was uneventful.  It was another long day (5 hours for the infusion alone), but I continue to get good news from my oncologist.  The tumor has gone from 3.5cm to the size of a pea.  A pea.  Peas are tiny, and there is a very good chance that the pea will go away during these next three rounds of chemo.  The pea could also be dead tissue, DCIS (non-invasive cancer), or something else.  Hopefully it will totally go away, and we'll never know. 

Chemo #6

My mom was with me today, and we had a nice time rotating between chatting and both getting some work done.  All of the infusion room chairs that have the best wifi signal (I know that it is bad that I know that) were taken so we got a private room. It was great.  I was in a bed instead of a chair, and we could both make a few calls without disturbing others. I also enjoy cutting up with the nurses and chatting so we asked them to leave the door to the room open so that we had some interaction with the outside world.

I am taking the day off tomorrow, but am so glad that I have been able to work during this process.  Chemo can cause some cognitive issues such as forgetfulness, trouble completing sentences, and trouble with focus.  It's called "chemo brain," and is a very real side effect to chemo.  Experts recommend doing things such as word puzzles and memory games during chemo to try to ward off chemo brain, and that has been proven effective.  I've done some crossword puzzles and such, but I think that my continuing to work has been the biggest memory game of them all.  I hope that it will help to continue to keep my mind relatively sharp.  I have noticed some forgetfulness lately, but it is nothing drastic. If I think of something that I need to do, it is usually best to do it right away or write it down lest I forget.  Hopefully the mental exercise of planning very involved events will continue to help.

As far as the world of oncology goes, today was a good day.  I wish that I knew WAY less about cancer treatment than I do, but I am thankful to have such a great medical team and great support team all around.  I am the luckiest cancer patient out there.