So far the big benefit to stopping the cisplatin is that treatment time goes from 4 hours to 45 minutes and even though the were running behind this week we were able to get out in time to meet Val for lunch. I think we can get used to this.

They were running beind at the U of M Cancer Center this week because of the holiday - they usually see about 100 people a day (!) but on Tuesday they were seeing 160!!! The waiting room was quite crowded. We waited on a bench across from a woman and her baby who couldn't have been more than 8 or 9 months old. A nurse came out to greet them, chatted with the woman for a few minutes, gave great big goo-goo ga-ga's to the baby and then said to Mom, "Let's go get her vitals." The baby was the patient.

It shouldn't have surprised me but it did. The peadatric infusion area is right next to the general waiting room and it's always startling to see little kids coming and going. It's easy to think that 40 is so young but so is 4 and not that anyone has it better or easier than anyone else but it does make one pause.

I'm reminded of another treatment sometime in late November or early December. We were in one of the big rooms with rows of reclining chairs. David was sleeping and I was reading. I noticed a young guy two chairs down. He was going back and forth between a laptop and a thick text book. I heard him tell the nurse that he had a final that afternoon. I thought, "How does he do that? I'm exhausted after treatment and I'm not even the one getting chemo!"

Eventually, the chair in between was filled by another young guy. I'd say he was about 25. He was in a wheelechair and not very well put together. He was wearing sweats, untied sneakers, and a rumpled t-shirt and his dirty hair was sticking up all over the place. His nurse was chatty and asked him about his condition. The book was open in my lap but I had stopped reading - this guy's story was so incredible!

When David woke up I couldn't wait to tell him. I whispered the details to him: "See that guy? In the wheelechair? He had to have parts of his spine fused together so they could remove his tumor! He was in the hospital for 6 months recouperating! And he's still got cancer and has to have chemo and radiation!" David glanced over at him and said, "Yeah, but would it have killed him to brush his hair?"

-----

I'm about halfway through my vacation. I had originally taken this week off because my parents were planning on visiting. They didn't come because my mom is getting over being sick but I still took the week off. We've been doing jigsaw puzzles, walking the dogs, catching up on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (hilarious!) We saw The Hangover II (skip it and see Bridesmaids instead) and we've been getting ready for the Normal Park neighborhood yard sale. Regina arrives tomorrow to help us with that. The weather has been awesome - hot at the beginning of the week and now just nicely warm. All of last week's rain has really made the garden pop. I'll try to get some pictures together for another post.

Thanks for reading. Enjoy your day!