It's All About Me

Day One

Today I started my cancer treatment and my journey to a healthy life. Ross and I started with a visit to the radiation department at the hospital for my first radiation treatment. It was done in less than5 minutes and painless. Then a quick drive and visit with the oncologist to get admitting papers. And then another quick drive to hospital to be admitted. We are talking 30 second drives to all these places. I have a lovely single room overlooking the St. Lucie River with a private bathroom. My prayers were answered. Thank you Thank you!!! There is a time to share and then there is a time not to share. This is really one of those times I just don't want to share.

My first visitors arrived around 12:30 for lunch and packing many gifts. Joie my sister-in-law and Ross' mom Betsy never travel empty handed. Besides a delicious lunch there is a whole bag full of gifts to opened everyday, beautifully wrapped and a message card attached to each one, stating the day to be opened and a little message on the card also. So day One I was blessed with a beautiful angel plaque that is hanging in my room behind my bed letting me know that "Angels gather here" Love it Love it. I also received a book for my leisure time. What a wonderful idea and somehting to look forward every morning.

The purpose of this stay here in the hospital is to have some treatment so we got started with the chemo treatment. It it invokes putting a pick catheter line in. Without getting to technical they insert a tube in your upper arm in the blood vessel and it runs down close to your heart. This is used to administer the chemo treatment along with other medicines I receive throughout the day. They can also draw blood from here also avoiding all the needle sticks. Very comfortable. All the lines are connected to computers that they set to administer the medicine. I received two types this first day. One is just a push. Takes about 5 minutes where they push the meds through. The other one I get in 24 hour bags. I will have 4 when this is all done. I played my cancer song, "I will survive" for the nurses as this was being administered.

Ross visited again on his way home. He is such a good boy. I tossed him a few morsels of food that I had just so he can keep up his strength. Have to nourish and take care of the care taker. Need him so much. He is my rock and my strength.

By the time he left. It had been a long day and I was ready for my happy pill and crawl into bed.

My final thoughts of the day was about how I started this blog "It's all about me". Before my mother died in 2004 Carl bought my mother a book entitled "All about me". It was a very simple book to journal her thoughts. I had hoped that she would take some time in her last months to reflect and fill it out. I thought it was a great gift to journal her legacy to pass on. There were some details and stories but I was disappointed in the readings. It did not have much detail and not very deep thoughts in my mind, but this may be all she could do and I have to give her credit for as much as she did. I lesson that I took from this was to give more back to my family, my husband and children and their families. So I feel that this blog is the first step in this journey of recognizing who I am, putting my thoughts to paper and sharing these memories, not only to my immediate family, but extended family and dear friends. What a great support system I have in place and with their prayers and love and devotion I receive from them and God's will, I am going to come out of this on the other side stronger and healthier.

It's all about me but I need all of you to make me the best I can be. Love to each one of you.