Wednesday, April 23 - the day finally came. No more waiting. It's a very long day.
9 am - Blood draw to make sure "my numbers" are in line.
10 am - Meet with the Doctor - to discuss treatment for the day, review labs and symptoms and prescriptions and discuss path forward.
11 am - Start the IV and start the infusion portion of the day. I had 4 infusions. The first was an anti-nausea medication, the second was a steroid (gosh I love those steroids - please hear the sarcasm in my voice). The third was a chemotherapy drug that is supposed to be the hardest on your body. This one they can only have you on for a couple of months - it supposedly does a good job, but it's side effects can be very harsh. And the fourth was chemotherapy drug #2 - which it sounds like I'd be on for a long time. In between each infusion the nurses are checking in - to make sure you aren't having any bad reactions etc... Oh - and I finally got to take that $586 pill (now free for me) - which I will take everyday forever. And we're done around 2 pm.
They've been scheduling my appointments on Wednesdays - which is Paul's day off. So he tries to read and I listen to a pod cast and try to knit with the IV in my arm (It is possible to do depending on where they put the IV). The nurses are so nice and they bring you drinks and snacks, but mostly are checking the IV and making sure you are doing OK etc... No adverse reactions or anything.
Overall it's not that bad. I can say with experience - there's tons of other medical procedures and tests that are much more to endure.
And we get home and the fatigue/exhaustion hits. That has been the most surprising part of all this. I get so fatigued. And it's mental and physical. - so tired that some days I CAN'T EVEN KNIT - can you believe that? I force myself to do things - but then lay on the couch for an hour to recover. And this lasts Thursday and most of Friday and part of Saturday. Bone aches start to set in on Friday night through Saturday. Paul rubbed CBD ointment on my shoulders and arms and after the second application, that really did the trick - The bone and joint aches were gone. I was pretty much pain free.
WISCONSIN ALPACA & FIBER FESTIVAL.
I cancelled most of my spring show schedule, but there were a few I thought I'd try. I thought I'd give the Wisconsin Alpaca & Fiber Fest a go - since it's literally 3 miles from my house and I have family, and tons of friends volunteering to help. At the time I decided to keep doing this show, I had no idea what my treatment schedule would be, and unfortunately, it did fall on a chemo week. By the way, being so close post-chemo, I couldn't have done it without family and friends. I also was able to sleep in my own bed and had the best/easiest commute ever.
Set up day was Friday, and it was cold and I wasn't feeling too great. Luke was a Rockstar. He loaded up the car for me on Thursday, and Friday set up the shelves and lighting. Then he and my friend Tricia put all the yarn on the shelves - and I sat in a chair bundled up - and pointed to where things went.
Then the next couple of friends - Lynn & Pam came. In my set up process, I call this step "fussing" - What can I say? I "fuss" a bit about the way things look in my booth. At this point, Luke had to go to school, so he drove me home to lay on the couch. Even though I didn't feel like I had done much - I was exhausted. Pam and Lynn did an amazing job. Everything looked spectacular and I was ready to go for the show Saturday morning.
Paul was there with me running the cash register all day. Saturday morning was a bit rough for me. Still a bit achy and exhausted but improving. And yarn friends volunteered to help both days. And as the weekend went on, I felt better and better.
And what can I say? Talking about yarn and talking with people about their projects and aspirations brings me so much JOY! - (Hence the business name "Purl Talk")
So, thank you to all of you that volunteered. Big hugs and thanks to Luke, Alaena and Paul for your help and support! And big thanks to all of my knitter-ly friends out there that helped in set-up, attending at the booth or packing up. Big thanks to Tricia, Lynn, Pam, Mary Margaret, Cindy and Julie. I really could not have done it without you. I'm not used to asking for help - but your help made all the difference - So thank you from the bottom of my heart.
And finally, thanks to all the local folks and friends that came out to the show - my in town customers. I had so much fun seeing you all and seeing the alpacas. And the best fun I had was when my son brought my 94 year old mother in law. She marched off with her walker straight to the alpacas. She loved them and thought they were so cute. She also saw my booth for the first time. She's still talking about it today.
And with that, I hope you are having a good week.
Take care - and don't forget to live your JOY too.
Laura