Update on Mom

The following is my mom's latest Care Pages update. I thought I'd post it for those of you who are interested in her progress as she continues to lay the smackdown on cancer.

September Already?

A lady in the chair next to me was having a conversation I couldn't help overhear. Two of her children are losing their homes to foreclosure and a grandson just moved in with her due to divorce. She is still upbeat and positive because today is her last chemo and she is headed to California by the end of the week to visit family. I admire her attitude and am happy that her chemo is complete. She was still there when I left so I don't know if they hummed the "graduation" song to her or not. There was also another gal there for her last chemo, probably in her mid 20's, I think from Russia(may have mentioned her in an earlier post). She comes in from West Yellowstone for treatment.

Unknown to me until yesterday I guess I provided a week's worth of entertainment for the staff at the oncology center. Here's what happened and it may be one of those "you had to be there" moments. I had a new nurse last week. We got started, everything routine, went through a couple of bags of solution and then she came to hang a new bag. I don't usually pay much attention as I'm visiting with someone or writing on the computer. The nurse said, as she was hanging the bag, "I wonder why that's a different color ... did they add something in it?" (And I'm thinking, well they mix the bags according to what the blood test says so that's entirely possible) and then she goes on ... "it's usually clear, why would it be blue green all of a sudden?" (I don't work here, so I don't know ... I'm sure it must be okay or the doctor wouldn't have you give to me but you might want to check, I'm thinking) and then she said "it must have a chemical in it for algae" before she walked away. I looked up at the bag and it was an entirely clear solution. Well, I've lost a lot of things and of them I miss my mind the most...I thought I was going crazy ... I knew the bags were sterile solutions...why would they give it an algae treatment and why would they have it plugged in to ME? I'm telling you, chemo does strange things to the brain but I finally had enough sense to say when she came back "it looks clear to me, I don't see any difference in the color." She burst out laughing... "I was talking about the waterfall pool out back ...did you think they put algae treatment in your chemo bag?" We laughed for quite a while and I must say, the pool was quite a vibrant blue green when I finally looked out the windows behind me into the courtyard. I guess after I left I became the "incident of the week" and they were still chuckling when I went in yesterday. Add that one to the personal history I guess.

My visitor de jour was Kayla Larsen whom I've known since was in her Mommie's tummy! It has been fun to watch her turn into a beautiful young woman. She is a joy and fun to have around and she doesn't even get mad at me when I still boss her around. It was a blessing for me to have her as one of "my young women" in Rexburg and we even got to go on the Martin's Cove Trek together. She was always checking on me to see if I was okay even though we weren't on the same handcart. She visits in Rigby and sends emails and is one of those who provide hope in the future for the Gospel and the world. I know she is one of the daughters my Patriarchal Blessing said I'd have. What a blessing!

You may remember me mentioning in an earlier post the woman who practically had to stand on her head for them to get her port to work. She is one of the ones today who will have her last treatment and they had no problems accessing her port at all. They explained that some ports have positional problems (big term, huh?) because they are not implanted correctly by the surgeon. I thought "another tender mercy"...not one minute's trouble with my port. I am grateful.

I mentioned to the doctor on the last visit how strange it was that so many of the effects experienced in chemo are similar to those experienced in pregnancy -- nausea, bothersome food aromas, fatigue -- but when a neighbor came yesterday and brought "Preggie Pops" I had to laugh out loud.I think I'll try them, though, to see if they help with nausea and dry mouth from steroids.

My day ended with another humorous experience ... we went in to get our recommends renewed with the counselor in the Bishopric. He's such a good guy and really in tune. He has a great sense of humor. He's in his 30's and their family lends so much to the ward. They are natural at serving others. Anyway, as I went in to the room and laid my recommend on the table, he said "so you expire this month, huh?" Well, my brain had recovered a little from the chemo so I replied "well, my recommend does...I'm more on a long term basis!" He looked at the scarf on my head and we both had a good laugh -- he hadn't even thought about it before the words came out but it provided a light moment.
Enough for today !! Talk to you next week. Thanks for your interest.