During one of my surgery consultations, my doctor was fairly adamant that I needed to plan on a six week recovery. I took his word for it and adjusted the schedule in my mind to include those six weeks off work. He insisted that I would not feel as good as I did the day I sat in his office for at least six weeks, maybe more.

Yesterday I made it to the halfway point, three weeks.

• I wake up in the morning and stay awake all day. I miss all that nodding off.
• I started walking this week and am up to about a mile. Yesterday I walked to the library and back with a few minutes spent on Ancestry.com at the library. I may repeat that today. (P.S. I enjoy walking companions so if you have the time and energy, please text or call.)
• I’ve made a small dent in one of my post-operative projects (genealogy) and am starting to think about my other planned project (sewing.)
• I’ll finish my last (I hope) pre-chemo testing today and follow up with both surgeons on Monday. I’ve scheduled two other appointments: One, with a psychosocial oncology doctor to start addressing all the changes in my life and try to talk my way around depression (common side effect during chemo.) The other, for “chemo training”, to learn what I need to know as I negotiate the next 4 months of chemotherapy.
• I ordered two books about eating through cancer treatment and I’m starting to think about preparing for the changes in appetite, taste, hydration etc. I’m wondering about trying to prepare some healthy food packets ahead of time, soups, etc. that could be tucked into my freezer.
• I’m starting see how the schedule might play out over the next few months. Yesterday, the nurse practitioner told me that I won’t start chemotherapy until May. I still don’t know if that means May 2, 9, 16 or so. I do know it will be on Thursdays and that once I start, it will be scheduled for every other week. There will be two courses of chemo, four each so eight weeks long. I don’t know if there will be a break between the two. I also know that during the first course I will most likely lose my hair so I am preparing for that. There will also be issues with photosensitivity during that course (less so with the second) so I won’t be spending much time in or by the pool. Though, I’ve already thought of ways I could make a comfortable awning for my poolside time.
• I also know that I am not on the schedule at work for the rest of April and will be heading back to work early May. My jobs and hours will be flexible based on what I can handle. I had gone to two longer days–a 12-hour day on Tuesdays and a 10-hour day on Fridays. We’ll try to see if we can change those days so I work early in the week and have time for recovery after Thursday chemo sessions and also probably work a few less hours in a day. I have been working for one of the busiest docs and may not be able to sustain that level of energy. I’ll probably start with a combination of patient care and phone time and see how my energy level plays out. I am really grateful for the flexibility my lead nurse is offering me, as I very much prefer patient care and enjoy working with Dr. Cheff over triage phone work, but will have to see how much I can handle.
• All that clears the calendar for me to follow the suggestion of one of my friends: to take a  little vacation before beginning the next phase of treatment. My first thought was to jump on a plane to New Zealand, but that, of course, is hardly a little vacation. We’re still working out the details but it may be someplace warm and fun and may include my sweet little grandson 🙂 TBA.

At the moment, ALL of April seems stretched out ahead of me for more recovery, projects, and preparation. I know it will fly by faster than I’d like (I’m having so much fun, you see.) But it’s a nice hiatus. Hopefully spring will come soon and stay.

See! The winter is past;
the rains are over and gone.
Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
is heard in our land.

–Song of Solomon 2:11-12

 

Postscript: My friend Mari hopscotches ahead of me again, beginning her chemo this week on April 4 with different medications and a different schedule. She has cut down her teaching schedule to one class a week and has checked off most of her “to do” list in preparation. Her special project during the next several weeks will be to make a quilt for her first granddaughter, due in June.