Toilet Seat Lids! (Mar. 3, 2006)
Morning
Laurie received her second chemo treatment today. She began the day with a professional massage from her good friend, Carol Cromartie, who is in her fourth year of treatment for breast cancer herself. Carol has trained to become a professional masseuse, and she wanted to give Laurie a massage before treatment to help her relax. After the massage, Carol accompanied Laurie to Baylor and stayed with us the rest of the day. By the time Jim saw them, Laurie was definitely relaxed. (But not as relaxed as she was going to get!)
The first stop was the lab to get Laurie's blood drawn. We had prayed that her counts would go up so she could have her treatment today. God really answered that prayer, because her counts were sky high, mostly from the antibiotic she'd been on! She was chemo-ready! Next stop was Dr. O'Shaughnessy's office. Dr. O.' was very pleased with how Laurie handled the first round of chemo and planned to change her "cocktail" (prechemo IV for nausea, allergic reactions, etc.) a little.
After our meeting with Dr. O.', we went down to the Infusion Lab. Must have been a run on chemo, because the waiting room was packed. We got to the lab about noonish, and didn't begin the chemo treatments until a little after 2:00. Our chemo nurse this time was Pam R. We had asked for her the last time because we heard she was a believer and very good at her job, but she was unavailable. We got her this time. She was a hoot! She ushered us into the lab and parked us in one of the partitioned cubicles. While Laurie was away for a moment taking care of personal business, Jim noticed one of the private rooms a few feet away.
"Why not," he thought, so he asked Pam how one could get a room. It turns out that all one does is ask! When Laurie got back, Jim and Carol had already moved everything into a nice private room. Laurie got the bed. Jim got the recliner. Carol grabbed the other chair (I did offer!). Jim got the Apple iPod up and running (some friends from Scofield had given it to Laurie to use during her treatments). The afternoon looked to be on the fast track to going well.
You will recall I mentioned that Dr. O.' had changed Laurie's prechemo "cocktail." The biggest change was the 50-milligram IV injection of Benadryl, designed to prevent the same allergic reaction to the Taxotere Laurie had had the first time. Fifty milligrams is a lot it turns out! Pam started the IV, injected the Benadryl, and we waited. It wasn't long before Laurie's speech started sounding a little lazy. The Benadryl almost immediately made her legs jumpy. That was the most annoying part of the treatment, because it kept her from sleeping as much as the first time. Laurie began talking almost nonstop. I'm kind of glad, too, because we would never have enjoyed the following little discussion on toilet seat lids.
We're about an hour into the treatment. The cocktail is finished and the Taxotere is flowing. Carol is massaging Laurie's feet (what a treat for my wife, since I'm not so good at it!). Laurie has been rambling on about whatever pops into her head, and believe me lots of "popping" was going on. Unfortunately for Laurie, she's in the twilight zone, and what she says seems to be smattered with conscious and unconscious streams of thought. The most memorable conversation went something like this.
Jim (as Carol moves to rub Laurie's back): "How you feeling, Hon?"
Laur (rather sleepily): "OK." She pauses. "We can't forget to get the toilet seat lids."
Jim looks at Carol: "What about the toilet seat lids?"
Laur (a little more emphatically): "We can't forget them!"
Jim (looks again at Carol. She shrugs and smiles): "I don't understand. Do you want us to change the cloth covers for the toilets?"
Laur (this time definitely revealing her exasperation): "No! The lid that covers the part you sit on! (She drifts off for a moment while Jim and Carol try hard not to laugh out loud.)
Jim: "OK. I still don't understand. Why do we need to get new ones?"
Laur: "Because they're broken!"
Jim (in his most placating manner): "OK, Hon. Why don't we talk about it later."
Fortunately at this point, Laurie drifted off to sleep for a few minutes. Carol and I chuckled, wondering what topic the next conversation might be about and whether or not I could share it with anyone!
Evening
The rest of the afternoon was pretty uneventful. We took a couple walks around the lab to help Laur's legs, stopping only for a potty break (the IV fluids have to go somewhere!). We finished the chemo at about 6:15 p.m. and headed home. Because Laurie had not really slept during the treatment, mainly due to the Benadryl, she was pretty tired when we got home. I helped her into her recliner and got her a blanket. She managed to stay awake for a few minutes, but soon fell fast asleep. She didn't wake up until 10:00, even with the phone calls and friends dropping by. (I wonder if I should tell her that she has a really cute little snore? Nah! Somethings are best left alone.)
Thus went the second round of chemo. Only two more to go! Thanks, Lord, for making this day so interesting!
Laurie received her second chemo treatment today. She began the day with a professional massage from her good friend, Carol Cromartie, who is in her fourth year of treatment for breast cancer herself. Carol has trained to become a professional masseuse, and she wanted to give Laurie a massage before treatment to help her relax. After the massage, Carol accompanied Laurie to Baylor and stayed with us the rest of the day. By the time Jim saw them, Laurie was definitely relaxed. (But not as relaxed as she was going to get!)
The first stop was the lab to get Laurie's blood drawn. We had prayed that her counts would go up so she could have her treatment today. God really answered that prayer, because her counts were sky high, mostly from the antibiotic she'd been on! She was chemo-ready! Next stop was Dr. O'Shaughnessy's office. Dr. O.' was very pleased with how Laurie handled the first round of chemo and planned to change her "cocktail" (prechemo IV for nausea, allergic reactions, etc.) a little.
After our meeting with Dr. O.', we went down to the Infusion Lab. Must have been a run on chemo, because the waiting room was packed. We got to the lab about noonish, and didn't begin the chemo treatments until a little after 2:00. Our chemo nurse this time was Pam R. We had asked for her the last time because we heard she was a believer and very good at her job, but she was unavailable. We got her this time. She was a hoot! She ushered us into the lab and parked us in one of the partitioned cubicles. While Laurie was away for a moment taking care of personal business, Jim noticed one of the private rooms a few feet away.
"Why not," he thought, so he asked Pam how one could get a room. It turns out that all one does is ask! When Laurie got back, Jim and Carol had already moved everything into a nice private room. Laurie got the bed. Jim got the recliner. Carol grabbed the other chair (I did offer!). Jim got the Apple iPod up and running (some friends from Scofield had given it to Laurie to use during her treatments). The afternoon looked to be on the fast track to going well.
You will recall I mentioned that Dr. O.' had changed Laurie's prechemo "cocktail." The biggest change was the 50-milligram IV injection of Benadryl, designed to prevent the same allergic reaction to the Taxotere Laurie had had the first time. Fifty milligrams is a lot it turns out! Pam started the IV, injected the Benadryl, and we waited. It wasn't long before Laurie's speech started sounding a little lazy. The Benadryl almost immediately made her legs jumpy. That was the most annoying part of the treatment, because it kept her from sleeping as much as the first time. Laurie began talking almost nonstop. I'm kind of glad, too, because we would never have enjoyed the following little discussion on toilet seat lids.
We're about an hour into the treatment. The cocktail is finished and the Taxotere is flowing. Carol is massaging Laurie's feet (what a treat for my wife, since I'm not so good at it!). Laurie has been rambling on about whatever pops into her head, and believe me lots of "popping" was going on. Unfortunately for Laurie, she's in the twilight zone, and what she says seems to be smattered with conscious and unconscious streams of thought. The most memorable conversation went something like this.
Jim (as Carol moves to rub Laurie's back): "How you feeling, Hon?"
Laur (rather sleepily): "OK." She pauses. "We can't forget to get the toilet seat lids."
Jim looks at Carol: "What about the toilet seat lids?"
Laur (a little more emphatically): "We can't forget them!"
Jim (looks again at Carol. She shrugs and smiles): "I don't understand. Do you want us to change the cloth covers for the toilets?"
Laur (this time definitely revealing her exasperation): "No! The lid that covers the part you sit on! (She drifts off for a moment while Jim and Carol try hard not to laugh out loud.)
Jim: "OK. I still don't understand. Why do we need to get new ones?"
Laur: "Because they're broken!"
Jim (in his most placating manner): "OK, Hon. Why don't we talk about it later."
Fortunately at this point, Laurie drifted off to sleep for a few minutes. Carol and I chuckled, wondering what topic the next conversation might be about and whether or not I could share it with anyone!
Evening
The rest of the afternoon was pretty uneventful. We took a couple walks around the lab to help Laur's legs, stopping only for a potty break (the IV fluids have to go somewhere!). We finished the chemo at about 6:15 p.m. and headed home. Because Laurie had not really slept during the treatment, mainly due to the Benadryl, she was pretty tired when we got home. I helped her into her recliner and got her a blanket. She managed to stay awake for a few minutes, but soon fell fast asleep. She didn't wake up until 10:00, even with the phone calls and friends dropping by. (I wonder if I should tell her that she has a really cute little snore? Nah! Somethings are best left alone.)
Thus went the second round of chemo. Only two more to go! Thanks, Lord, for making this day so interesting!
posted by Laurie Thames | 11:14 PM
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