Before I write about last week, I must give a huge hug and a thousand bacis to my old coworkers at Prudential Fox and Roach Realtors, who surprised me with a gorgeous gift basket filled with wonderful things. I always said that the best part about being a realtor was the office and my friends there. Keep in mind that I haven’t worked there in over a year, yet once they heard about my illness, they pitched in like always and contributed to buy many generous gifts, including a Kindle, which will certainly come in handy while I’m in the hospital. Your love and concern is humbling.
I’d especially like to thank:
- Di G., for her très amusant, tour de force, Troupe de Prudentiale cancan presentation (sorry, you just had to see it to believe it), which caused my friends and me to howl with laughter!
- The expert mystery baker who gave a huge canister of delicious home baked cookies.
- Barbara C. for the gorgeous purple orchids, which I have always loved.
- Meredith H., for the very thoughtful, special pillow and 21 days of little presents, which will be so fun to open!
- Fran B., and her husband Bill, for the delicious German chocolate cake he baked just for me. : )
- Colleen T., for the incredibly zingy flatbread pizzas, that will live on in my tastebud memories during my upcoming bland food days, and that gorgeous smart jacket that I’ll really enjoy wearing.
- Marianne P., for her wonderful Chicken Tortilla Soup, which I’d been craving for weeks, and a great salad, as well as for our many happy years of working together.
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Last week was a great success. I had my pheresis catheter inserted on Monday. Thankfully our dear friend Sally patiently helped me and spent the entire day there with me, and some of the evening, too! Then I went to the Apheresis Clinic on Tuesday and was hooked up to the incredible stem cell collection machine. I was not feeling well (understatement) due to the Mozobil injection from the previous evening, which mobilizes stem cells from the marrow into the bloodstream. So I slept a bit, whined a lot, and was aided all morning long by another dear and patient friend, Lisa. After 3 hours, they collected 13,000,000 stem cells, which is more than twice as much as needed for my stem cell transplant! Off they went to the freezer for safe keeping.
I was so happy to find out that I did not have to return the next two days, as previously expected, to complete the collection process. Such great news! So although the Mozobil made me nauseous for two days (the numero uno side effect), it was worth it. The next step is admission to the hospital, which is scheduled for Wednesday. I don’t get too attached to dates like this because they are affected by so many variables, especially, is there a room available for me? So I’m waiting patiently, trying to get my things ready to move into “my room” for about three weeks.
Songs that get "stuck" in my head often reveal a truth of some sort. So, the other night, when I couldn’t get a favorite old song out of my head, I decided to pay attention to the lyrics. It only took a few seconds to figure it out:
I can tell you all I know, the where to go, the what to do
You can try to run, but you can't hide from what's inside of you
Any Major Dude Will Tell You, by Steely Dan
I can’t hide from what’s inside of me, although sometimes I wish I could. The time has finally come to face it head on and do battle. I’m so ready. ; )
