Hydration Friday

Today was hydration Friday.  My appointment was scheduled for 11:00 a.m.  Which meant waking up by 9:00 a.m. (I had woken up, earlier, at 5:00 a.m. to take one medication, and gone back to sleep!), getting dressed and making sandwiches to take with us for lunch, and writing a note of instructions to the gardener (to continue to prune the roses).  We left the house at 9:50 a.m. and got to the clinic before 11:00 a.m.  But the waiting room was packed and I wasn't called in until 12:30 p.m.  By the time I was seen and hooked up to the hydration unit, it was already 1:00 p.m.

We ate our sandwiches shortly there after and received news that there was a bomb threat in the vicinity (police station just up the road from the clinic), all roads in the surrounding area were closed off, but the building we were in was secure.  I work downtown in the Civic Center where bomb threats are quite common, so I was not too bothered by the news of this bomb threat.  It's just one more thing to think of, when one is hooked up to a machine and receiving treatment.  Sigh.

Treatment was over at 3:00 p.m.  By the time we picked up some food and came home, it was already past 4:00 p.m.  So, it turned out to be a full day's outing for us.  We ate an early dinner, then, daughter took a nap.  I made an appointment for another blood test to be done on Monday afternoon, since my next hydration appointment has been set for next Tuesday morning.  My cousin's daughter will drive me to that appointment and back (she has offered to take me to the Monday's blood test, as well, but I think I'll be fine to make that short drive). 

Another cousin had called while we were out, so I returned her call and spoke with her.  She's happy to drive me, too, except she's recovering from the flu and doesn't want to expose me to any germs.  But when she's better, she's another willing driver who will take me to any appointments I need to get to in daughter's absence.  I think it will all work out well - I will feel better next week, not as tired, and more able to take myself where I need to go.  And daughter will be back for the next chemo session at the end of this month. 

I just have to remember that, although I am not feeling nausea due to the medications I am taking, I am still being subjected to quite a potent combination of chemicals and drugs that are taking a toll on my body from the inside and shouldn't expect to feel 100%.  As I explained to a friend of mine, there are subtle evidence of the toll on my body - the most obvious is the loss of hair, but there are also discoloration at the base of my nails along the cuticles, discoloration in the tips of my fingers, and so forth - all indications that certain cells are being destroyed and not all of them are cancer cells.  After each treatment, I have to heal myself from the inside out.  No wonder I feel so tired!

There was also another call from a friend, later in the evening.  I told her that I had taken the blanket she had given me (her Christmas gift to me) to my hydration session today, and it kept me nice and warm.  It made her so happy to hear that I had used her gift.  She had asked my daughter for suggestions and daughter had said I'd appreciate a blanket or throw and the one she gave me is so soft and warm.  

Today, I am grateful for:

- A safe hydration session
- The bomb scare didn't amount to anything, after all
- Sandwiches and drinks from home
- Treating ourselves to take out on the way home
- Offers of help from family members and friends

How can it be Friday, already?  Have you had a good week, this week?  Anyone got plans for the weekend?