3-4-03 Journal Entry
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Started my 3rd cycle out of 6 yesterday. Six hours in the treatment chair. Fortunately I had visits from some friends and family to help pass the time. Thanks guys!
As I write this I am getting another treatment. Just hanging out in the corner of the treatment room with my laptop listening to music at volumes that would definitely upset my wife. There are days when I like to visit with other patients. It is an opportunity to encourage and be encouraged. There are other days like today, however, when I just feel like using this time to think, reflect, and pray about different things on my mind.
A recent sermon at church has me thinking a lot about how I spend my time. You would think that as a cancer patient I would have all my priorities in order and be carefully choosing what I do with my time. Lately, however, I find myself at the end of the week thinking, “I sure didn’t do a lot with the boys this week.” or “Michelle and I didn’t have much time to talk or be together this week.” It seems that the things of little importance to me, I spend the most time doing and the things that are of the most importance to me I spend the least time doing. My prayer is to be more efficient in managing my time and completing the less important tasks so I can look back and feel good about having spent quality time with those I care about. Constant struggle.
My health update is that my counts are good. The chemo is causing my hematocrit and platelets numbers to hover a bit below normal, but my WBC, neutrophil, and lymphocyte numbers indicate the cancer continues to retreat. I have a few lumps that give me concern, but the blood count numbers clearly indicate everything is going in the right direction. Praise God for these cancer-fighting drugs. I continue to pray that doctors will be able to develop a treatment protocol that will not only help me win these frequent battles against Leukemia, but will help me to eventually win the war.
In closing, I do have a bit of advice. At the end of a long day of chemo treatments I wouldn’t go home and attempt plumbing repair (Unless you’re a plumber.). I felt like I was feeling good enough to install a new shower fixture in our master bath last night. What I thought was going to be a short little one-hour project ended up being a disaster resulting in a flooded bathroom and a very late night attempting to redo some badly soldered water pipe joints. Fortunately, our good friend Ed who has plumbing experience was able to come over and repair the damage. My neighbor Jay was also a lifesaver as he helped me clean up all the water. The next time I come home from chemo treatment you can bet I will spend time doing something with my family, rather than trying to be Mr. Home Improvement.