3rd Chemo, Neulasta, More Heroes, & THROW ME A BONE

Yesterday and Today

Here I am brightening up the infusion room with Jean's beautiful artwork.
From this angle, the breast canser symbol doubles as a Jesus fish, which also works for me.

This time Sophie came for a quick visit, to say good bye before her big trip to see cousin Bryn for a few days.
Thanks Jill and Justin for inviting her, and thanks Cody for driving her!

Adriamycin: the Red Devil of Death and/or the Crimson Carrier of Recovery,
depending on whether you're the tumors or me.

This is Toni, a volunteer in the infusion room. She brings us snacks and drinks, magazines or sometimes even homemade treats. Mostly she takes turns sitting with us and visiting. She has an amazing life. She is a two time canser survivor, and cared for her quadriplegic husband for 10 years. She has four children and many grandchildren and a full size poodle puppy. What a lady! And it turns out we're neighbors. I hope we can continue our visits in the park in our neighborhood.

This is Sonja. She happened to give me my Neulasta (hiss-spit) shot today. It turns out SHE TOO is a canser survivor, and quite a feisty one at that! 25 rounds of radiation, had to change hospitals in mid treatment because of a botched biopsy, has to massage edema from her axillary region down to the femoral region so the healthy lymph nodes there can take care of it. She both cussed and cried telling her story. What a treat it is to get to know all these heroes. Some are being treated around me, and some are the care givers. They're all heroes in my book. By the way, the hiss-spit from above is because the side effects of the Neulasta shot are by far my least favorite of the bunch. For three days my flesh will be so sore that even changing positions in the night will be excruciating. But it's doing its job. My white blood cell counts have all been exemplary. I should focus on that, but I think I'm allowed a hiss-spit or two, don't you?

And this was a fun little project Dave and I collaborated on this morning. That's Dr. Evil on the right, villain of the 90s cult hit Austin Powers. My Facebook friends are asking me to dress Sophie up as a mini me. That'll be the next project as soon as I find someone who has a bald cap that would fit a five year old. Anyone? By the way, props to my friend Michelle Olson for this idea. She's the one who threw me the freaking bone here!