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Staying strong and facing an uncertain /certain future
Caregivers | Last Active: Jun 22, 2023 | Replies (60)Comment receiving replies
Oh Lori, thank you for your precious words. Courage appears, sometimes, from unknown sources, and you just helped me "strap my courage back on". I am grateful that you are here. It is definitely me that is more nervous. He is such a warrior and has a great outlook. He is a little worried about side effects - as he says "he just doesn't want to feel like crap". I worry about all of the other things and in my panic annoy him with "wash your hands" "don't touch your face" "keep your distance"....my hair is turning a lovely shade of grey and treatment hasn't begun. On a funny note - over the weekend we were out riding our UTV in the desert and I was driving and he was giving me confusing directions and I asked him to either say turn right or turn left, not to say "go straight" when there was a turn option. Out of the blue he said "I don't have to I'm in treatment". He had me laughing so hard that I had to pull over for a moment. I told him that he still had to give proper directions even in treatment! Thanks for letting me share that silly moment - I cherish them.
Thank you again, and I will let you know how tomorrow goes. Bendstamine on Wednesday and Rituxan on Thursday. We are so grateful to be receiving his care at The Mayo Clinic.
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He’s in great hands at Mayo!! You too! ☺️
I enjoyed your little story about the ride in desert and pulling the ‘c’ card! LOL. My husband and I have some of those stories too that can only be appreciated if you’re ‘walking that walk’… Gallows humor or whatever it’s called. Keeping a sense of humor is vital through out treatment, I swear.
I hate to break it to your husband but he probably will ‘feel like crap’ for a couple days here and there. It’s usually the fatigue and malaise…especially when he’s so physically fit otherwise. He’s not used to feeling ‘off’ so when/if it happens it feels much more pronounced. That’s what was tough for me. Not 3 weeks before I was diagnosed with AML, I’d still been walking 10 miles a day! Then boom…within 3 weeks I was on hanging on by a toenail! The first 5 weeks I was in the hospital getting stable. But then every 28 days I went in for another week of chemo. By the time I was ready for another round, each time I was back to feeling pretty good. I have pictures of me with my chemo IV bag and cart, pushing it around my unit 4 miles a day! 8 rounds around the bed tower was 1 mile. I’d do that 4 times a day! My doctors and nurses were adamant that my positive behavior with walking and attitude helped me recover faster. So if your husband can keep up some effort during the day, that will really be beneficial for him!
And, in your defense…keep nagging. Staying germ free is super important right now. Masking if you’re out in the UTV too…fungal infections can be deadly.
Sending an air hug to both of you! ☺️