Monday, December 1, 2008

Kathleen's post from Day 1

Day 1: So, here I am sitting next to Steve in Dr Wisch’s office; he is cracking jokes with the nurses and other patients. In true Yazbak form, I found a small hole-in-the-wall Greek place in Newton Lower Falls that carries lemon soup. This morning wasn’t so great for me; there is a fair amount of anger that goes along with having this intruder in our lives. But all in all, I think we’re doing OK.

It’s 1pm and Steve is having only minor allergic reactions to the Rituxan he is receiving. This is actually an immuno-therapy drug, and the chemo comes tomorrow. For the record, he did sing the theme to "Mighty Mouse"

Last night I spoke with my cousin, Bryan, who lives in Princeton, NJ, and has been battling Multiple Myeloma (another lymphoma) for 8 years. As I emailed with his wife, JoEllen, this morning, that anyone I love has to face any of this is the piece with which I won’t make peace. They are amazing people, and an amazing couple I love and have admired for so long. Bryan was pretty categorical on a number of fronts, and it felt great to hear him tell me we’re going to survive this.

As well, Bryan and JoEllen have mastered the germ-a-way thing, so I am now their most serious pupil. Believe me, once you start thinking about germs, it’s easy to see how OCD happens. Not that I had any OCD tendencies to start with… ;)

More later...

2 comments:

Cydneejo said...

I TOLD you OCD was a good thing!

Unknown said...

Thinking about you today as you begin this battlefield of a journey. Remember the power of love heals, uh - love is a battlefield! We are strong!