The final installment of my cancer story took place on September 20, when I underwent reconstructive surgery at MD Anderson. The surgery was a cinch compared to chemo and the double mastectomy; my only issue was a prolonged feeling of fatigue, for which I blame anesthesia, rather than aging. Driving back into the medical center … Continue reading A Circuitous Path
In Byzantine and Renaissance painting and sculpture, artists adorned saints with identifiable items called attributes to help us distinguish one from another of 10,000 peers canonized by the Catholic Church. Those martyred for their faith hold palm branches. Examples of saints and their attributes include: St. Peter - who holds keys because in Matthew 16:19, Christ hands him the keys … Continue reading Attributes of Cancer
April 18th seemed eons away when I sat with Brad the Pharmacist last fall to learn about my chemotherapy protocol: Taxol once a week for 12 weeks, the "Red Devil" once every three weeks for 4 treatments. Along the way, I spent four days in the hospital for fever, received a Neulasta patch three times to elevate my … Continue reading Getting My Bell Rung
A 100.4 fever gets a kid out of school and definitely creates low-grade aches for the "normal" person. For a chemo patient, however, that fever is synonymous with a "Don't Pass Go, Don't Collect $200" Monopoly card. Tylenol is forbidden because it could mask an infection that could take down a cancer patient. Therefore, at … Continue reading Broken Tiles/Lives
My first week with the Red Devil is drawing to a close, mercifully. I did not experience violent nausea (TMI, but I didn't), just the precipice thereof. Taking anti-nausea meds around the clock and knowing my mother sat one groan away in my home all week assuaged my illness to the point that said she and I … Continue reading Contemplating Contradictions
Love at MD Anderson evidences itself in various ways: the valet attendant's radiant smile greeting every anxious visitor as early as 6 am; my friend Michelle, the head phlebotomist in the blood lab welcoming me with, "Miss Carrie Pillsbury! Come on down!"eliciting laughter from patients and their families; the librarian who prepared Valentines chocolates and "Blind Dates … Continue reading Valentine’s Day at the MDA
I confess, I enjoy coming to MD Anderson each week. I think it's because everyone here is trying so hard. The staff, the patients, the families - we're all on the same boat paddling in the same general direction, which tends to make us kind and empathetic with one another, too. Today a fellow patient … Continue reading Indelibly Stained
Twenty-nine years ago at Southern Methodist University, I moved into MacElvaney Dorm's third floor corner room, next to the RA and across from Susan Yaksick. Over the following three decades, Susan and I roomed together twice more and this week, we shared a room once again - at MD Anderson. Susan drove in from Austin and spent the night … Continue reading A Dogged Friendship
My Tuesdays at MD Anderson involve three, sometimes four, appointments: getting my blood drawn to see if I'm healthy enough for chemo; accessing my port (sticking in the needle used for IV chemo); checking in with my oncologist and receiving chemo. Schedulers try to stack these appointments as close together as possible, but it's never … Continue reading Migration at MD Anderson
My name, written with a new gel pen, smeared on the cover of my new spiral notebook when I sat down in the second row of desks. I was giddy. The lights dimmed and I looked up at the first image on the first day of my first graduate school class - and it was a skull. The … Continue reading My Memento Mori
