Its Been A While...

A couple of weeks ago I was talking to my friend Heather. Heather looked at me and said, "It's not often we get a second chance to stop and appreciate our life and what is truly important." She was right. Cancer can be a blessing and never more so than when you have a family and friends like I do. I have spent the last couple of weeks with my amazing family. My husband's family is truly a blessing and they are too much fun. I love watching Nana after the boys have told her a funny story and the way she laughs and giggles like a little girl. While my husband's family was here we had a mini California vacation. We went to the beach, the fair, and some brave souls went to Disneyland. Most of all we just hung out in Nana's kitchen and cooked with Aunt Sally. After the fun I had to resume chemo yesterday and that was different than it has been in the past. I had to go in an hour earlier for blood work because my white blood cells were too low on Monday to let me have chemo. Up until this point I have had the most amazing nurses. They have been efficient, gracious, and humorous-Betina, Jenny, and Nancy. I had a new nurse yesterday-callig her Nurse Ratchet would be cruel-bless her heart, but mildly appropriate. Oh my goodness, she was a train wreck. She left trash everywhere, ran around like a chicken with her head cut off, and asked me to hold most of her supplies. Don't get me wrong, she was kind, but a mess. Normally I go in at 9am and I finish by 12:30pm. This time I went in at 8:30am and did not leave until 2:00pm. My nurse had been on vacation for two weeks and had a little trouble starting my IV. I have really good veins and she liked to move the IV all over trying to get it at the right angle. She made it a pillow out of gauze, hoping it would flow better. She would forget that she was holding it and turn to do something-taking my vein with her. Ouch! Then she proceeded to tell me stories and whenever she became animated she would move the IV to emphasize her point. Ouch, Ouch, Ouch. She also kept telling me about all the other departments she has worked and I kept thinking you really need to find yor right fit. Maybe front office where you are just in one place? I tried to feign sleep so that she couldn't tell me stories and move the needle anymore. Needless to say it backed up and started swelling and itching so much they had to remove it and start a new one. Fortunately Kae came to my rescue and popped a new one in and I was on my way. During my 5.5 hour stay the man sitting next to me couldn't speak English. Nurse Ratchet kept talking to him in English slowly and loudly thinking that would work, but the poor man kept saying, "No English." I almost took pity on both of them and translated for him, but it kept her away for me so I let him suffer.
One of the chemo meds they give me is red and looks like Kool Aid to me. Well here are another few names the patients have given it-Red Devil, Red Bomber, Red October. I only have one more Red treatment and then I move on to the less nauseating Taxotere.
Thank goodness