Lessons of Week Three

Week Three (167lbs)

     I would say that week three has been my worse week so far, and I'm having a decent time of it all. And I still have hair! Though I can tell that I will not escape without getting caught by the more common side effects from my treatment.

     The above photograph was made on my 8x10 camera yesterday using a 600mm Fujinon lens.  Many thanks to Steve Hinds for the loan of the lens!  This image is one of the series that I will do every Saturday morning as I go through my treatment for cancer. I do not know what I will find during this project.  Should be fun though, and have some surprises for me…

     Now back to this weeks tittle, I learned a lesson Monday that I know could of been avoided. I was at chemo getting ready to have an IV put into me so that I could receive all my medication.  The nurses may do 50 to 100 of these every day, so they are always surprised when things go wrong… After 3 tries, some pain and me going into shock (causing a lot of excitement), I finally was hooked up with a good flow.  The problem was simply my state of hydration. When a person is dehydrated, their blood pressure drops somewhat, and veins don't act as expected.  Will not happen tomorrow!

     The other two lessons from the week were from points of observation. The way I have been treated at the cancer center has been wonderful. Total strangers have a warm smile and pleasant greeting every time.  These are people that I did not know, yet they go out of their way to show kindness and respect to each other.  This did catch me off guard, as I was expecting this from the staff, but not the other patients.  After some thinking about it, I remembered the last time total strangers greeted me with such warmth was the day after the 9/11 attack. It is amazing that it takes such pressure for us humans to treat each other as we would have others treat us.  Kindness, respect, and a warm greeting shouldn't take the shadow of cancer or the after effects of 9/11 for us to be nice to each other. 

     The last one, I am still working through… I caught myself feeling isolated from the world, and that is a depressing place to be. A lot of people around me are giving me space, and maybe for good reasons. They aren't sure how to deal with the shadow of cancer touching someone they know, or trying to give that person plenty of room from normal contact so they have the energy to deal with their treatment for cancer.  At this time I feel that the isolation is very hard to deal with…

     Today has been rather long winded, so thanks for bering with me!  Thank you so much for your support, gentle smiles and warm greetings!!!!