Who Knew?

I had decided early on in the summer that I would begin school in August even though I would be in the middle of my chemo treatments. I had accrued over 90 sick days over my 23 years of teaching. I figured that if I needed to take a week off for each of my four treatments and a week for my surgery and then a few days here and there for appointments and/or tests that I wouldn't use anywhere near 90 days. So far, so good.

When I am absent, the library at school is closed for business. I worried about that but decided that I needed to be able to work when I felt good. It was all about me because that is the way I look at life these days. I have to take care of myself to get through the beating that the drugs cause to my body.

However, it isn't all about me, and I learned that lesson over the last few weeks. The other day two junior girls were talking to me. One told me that I was her hero. The other explained that since I am managing so well with the cancer treatment, that has inspired her to be able to do anything. They both could not believe the energy that I have and the interest that I still have in them and books and the library. I realize now that my attending school when I can has been an inspiration to the students. Who knew? I didn't know that my cancer was going to be a teachable moment kind of thing. I have been very honest with the students. When I first announced to them about my illness, I just explained that I would be undergoing medical treatments. I could not get up in front of hundreds to say the C word. For any who have asked, I have been very forthright and explained to them as much as they seem to want to hear. Many have questions for me, and I answer them honestly. Too many of these students will be touched by C in their lives, seeing me go through it may remind them that life puts obstacles in our way but it doesn't mean that we are done.

Belated SHOUT OUT!!!!

I am very remiss in not sending out a shout out of thanks to the Atlantans who harbored us from Hurricane Gustav. My sister, Felicia Michelson, let us crash the first night when we arrived at 2AM. Josey Brown, the greyhound, found a love for tramping around her huge half acre backyard. Then Cathy, Frederic, Adam and Abigail Kahn let us stay in their downstairs room for the duration of our evacuation. Though Josey Brown had some issues, they provided us a safe harbor from the storm.

Thanks again--we certainly appreciated it.

Knocks Me for A Loop

I wasn't expecting that. This chemo treatment hit me hard. By Tuesday the 16th I was starting to feel better, but I also started to feel extremely weak. I could barely get out of bed. I stayed home through Wednesday because I was so tired. I think that on Wednesday I took three separate naps during the course of the day. I also was home awaiting the arrival of the locksmith because our front door dead bolt wouldn't work. Now our lock is in ship shape, and I have 2 weeks to mend before my next go round. Do I really have to do it all over again?

Today I returned to school. The library was swarming with tweens at 7AM. I was overcome. Pleased because they were excited to have access to the books once again, but overwhelmed to be back at my normal routine which felt anything but normal. The library was abuzz all day long with books in and out. At first I thought that I would not be able to accomplish anything worthwhile, but by the end of the day I actually got some needed work completed. I know that I can make it through Friday with some weekend rest before a whole week in the work force next week.

Had My Treatment

You may have guessed by my lack of posting that I had my 6th treatment on Thursday. My white blood count had a reading of 1122 on Wednesday. It needs to be at 1200 before they will give me my treatment. When I had my blood work done again on Thursday, it was at 1900. So the 24 hours made a big difference. Next time I will not have my blood work the day ahead. I scheduled it that way so I could go in quickly from work on Wednesday to have the blood drawn and then work half a day on Thursday.

I am feeling okay. I haven't made it out the front door since Thursday afternoon, but that is to be expected. I plan to be home on Monday and Tuesday to fully recuperate. Hopefully, my strength will allow me to make it through a full day on Wednesday. The drugs that I am taking to keep away the nausea disrupt my sleep patterns, so if I don't have to worry about getting up to get to school for 7AM then I can sleep and wake as needed.

I explained to the doctor that I went back to school too early after my 5th round of chemo because I couldn't sleep. I figured that if I couldn't sleep then I might as well be at work. She said that even if I can't sleep, my body needs the rest. So I am going to get the rest. It should make it easier to transition back to work if my body has had enough down time. It is hard to know how much down time that I actually need. I will let you know.

Will I or Won't I?

I got my blood work done today for tomorrow's chemo treatment. My white blood count was a bit low, too low to receive a treatment. They want me to go in tomorrow and give more blood to see if 24 hours makes a difference. If my count makes it to the magic number by tomorrow morning, then I will have my treatment as scheduled. If not, then I will have to wait until next week. Oh well, this has happened to many people I know that have undergone chemotherapy. I was just on a roll there and thought that I would get all my treatments as scheduled.

Hurray!!!!!

Power has been restored to our house as of 11:15AM Sunday, Sept 7th. An Entergy man with a long pole arrived to remove the limb from the breaker switch. He had to replace the fuse and flip the breaker, and we were back in business. Steve is sitting on the sofa enjoying the Saints, and I have started the laundry. Now if the refrigerator was full and we had cold drinks, we would be in heaven, but as it stands we are happy for now.

I am trying to blow cool air Ike's way so he moves as far west as possible.

Evacuation Update

We are back in New Orleans as of Friday at 7PM. Our house has no power though there are many houses in our neighborhood with lights. We are staying at my mother's house until we can have A/C at home. It is hot here. We are hopeful that the electricity will be turned on by Sunday evening.

Looking warily at Ike in the Carribean. We are trying to be optimistic about this hurricane veering away from the NOLA area.

On the Road for 20 Hours

I don't think that I can ever do this again. We left home before 5AM heading east. We arrived at my sister's house in Atlanta at 2AM Eastern time. We tried the backroads and county lanes of MS and AL to avoid the bumper to bumper on the Interstate. I don't think that it saved us any time but it was pretty. Our dog was a model evacuee. She slept the entire 20 hours. I drove two legs of the trip, but Steve did the majority of driving. We hate car driving when conditions are good, so this was a hell.

We hope all our friends and family who had to leave too are now safe and sound with electricity.