Travel Tales

I have put off posting because I wanted to put up pictures and because every time I get ready to post something else happens. I'm feeling pretty good overall and getting my mojo back after a beating from the physical therapist.

I went to Washington DC for a wedding and to visit my cousin Nancy. I had a fantastic trip. The day of the wedding, in old town Alexandria at George Washington's River Farm was perfect in every way. For me it was a pain free day. I wore my dress shoes for hours and even danced. I danced as much as I wanted. I drank alcohol. As much as I wanted, which wasn't very much actually. The wedding was relatively small, permitting conversation with just about everyone there which was wonderful. I had a gem of a conversation with a woman whose husband has had serious illness over the past 18 months but he was there, walking with a cane. We talked about the experience of dropping out of one's life suddenly, the fears, and how this kind of illness changes you. That little chat made the experience of the wedding even more precious.

Here's a pic of old friends who worked together at the Polsinelli law firm. Sally, on the far right, is the mother of the groom.

Nancy, a most wonderful host, collected me at the airport and we went directly to a salon for pedicures. After the wedding we had massages. Sunday we walked up to the capitol for the concert. Monday we went to a barbq and ate crabs. It's crab season back there and I had a lot of fun cracking them and eating them. A barbaric ritual that would have turned my doctors inside out had I tried to do it while my counts were still recovering. We visited the FDR Memorial which I had not seen and I liked it. This photo is in the 3rd term section, the war years. There are granite slabs every which way, both inside and outside the fountain. Very evocative of the disrupted countryside from bombs. Aside from these little adventures, we had fun walking the dog, walking to dinner, chatting. I'm a big fan of her beau who brought the Washington Post over to read every day.

On the way home as I was boarding the airplane the fellow in front of me dropped his sunglasses. Yours truly was able to bend down and pick them up and hand them back to him. Woo hoo! That is a lot of progress. Bending down to pick something up sometimes hurts so much that I don't bother. I really felt on top of the world as I made the trip home. Optimistic and confident and ready to do battle with my body.

I worked several hours each Wednesday and Thursday, then went to physical therapy Thursday afternoon. Thursday was not a good day. Everything hurt and nothing was moving very well. The PT insisted that we measure that day. I told her it was not a good day to measure because I was so sore and that tomorrow would be better. I guess she didn't believe me. She was mad because I hadn't been in for 3 weeks. And of course she was mad because the flexion (her term) in my arms and wrists was worse than when I started. She refused to count my last visit when we discovered that my shoulders were 30 degrees more flexible. She just wanted to be mean I guess. She must have been having a bad day too.

Anyway, that totally took the piss out of me. That the measurements were bad. That she didn't believe me when I said it was just a bad day. I cried and cried and cried. I fumed. I threatened to cancel the rest of the PT appointments. When I first went in there, she didn't understand GVHD and didn't understand what I explained to her. Now she has another patient so she's an expert. Said patient is making wonderful progress so obviously I am not doing my work at home. I know the other patient. I know her symptoms are about half what mine are. And I don't think the PT is now an expert.

She is a gov't employee, floating her gravy boat to retirement. She doesn't care about the individual, just her own numbers. Pfffft. I didn't cancel the appointments because the next two are with a different therapist. Nobody in there is very friendly, but maybe this one will be less overbearing. I had to think about where my canoe was. Beached. While I pouted. Took some mind work to get it back out in the stream.

Meanwhile yesterday was a good day. Today is a good day. I want to take my flat hand and smack that teutonic witch up the side of the head!

Mom had her last radiation on Thursday so we all met on the Plaza for lunch to celebrate. It is a wonderful feeling to beat cancer. To finish treatments.

I miss my friends at the clinic terribly but I am so happy being able to resume my life. The restaurant, Brio, was very accommodating and celebratory as well. Gave us complementary appetizer and then plates so we could eat BabyCakes for dessert.

When I returned home from Chicago I felt a little bit like when I used to travel for work. Get home, pay some bills, do the laundry, pack and leave again. My next door neighbor, Jack, has sent his grandson over to mow my yard twice. There is a special place for Jack in my heart. He is a champ. My neighbors across the street, Zach & Jen, have worked overtime collecting papers and mail for me. Mom & Dad have checked the post office box and made the bank deposits. All these things and I don't have dogs anymore!

I really missed Hayward Wednesday morning this week. It was raining hard when I got up. So hard that I just left the paper in the yard. HaHa. It's still not time for a dog or for gardening. My garden needs some serious work.

So there you go. My counts are holding steady. Hg was 11.8 a mere .4 away from normal, last week. The pain management is getting better. I have about one bad day a week, but I used to have about one good day a week so this is huge progress. I need to lose 5 pounds! gasp! Wally Time is over for me. I must pay attention to what I eat, and drink. Really, I don't drink alcohol much. Just occasionally.

We are scheduling the one year workup for July 6th because I have a liver biopsy scheduled for June 29th. THE DAY. One year from the date of my transplant. I'm thinking about a celebration.
~Cathi