2nd Treatment -- 1st Cycle

Medically speaking, this trip was uneventful (which is a good thing). She had her normal check-in with her oncologist, and then chemo/immunotherapy, and we also tried to get her scheduled for an MRI while we were in ATL, but they couldn’t squeeze her in. The MRI is for an issue that she’s having with her hip, since her last treatment. She’s had bursitis in the couple of months preceding her being diagnosed, so when she went to be checked at her PCP, they chalked it up to bursitis again. The problem with that is that none of the treatment seems to be giving her much relief at all(cortisone shot plus meloxicam), and she’s having a lot of trouble walking or getting around at all. She uses a walker almost all of the time at home now, and has been managing with just a cane and wheelchair on this trip. It has been eventful in that respect just because this is the first time mom hasn’t been totally mobile on her own. 

Navigating the airport and riding around in the shuttles were more difficult than our previous trips, just because there’s a lot of her getting up and down, and different paths we have to take due to accessibility — we’ve felt a little out of sorts just because it’s not our normal routine, and we realize now that we need to allow more time to get places. 

Other than that, mom has been feeling pretty good and in good spirits. Everyone has been so nice about checking in on her and helping when possible, especially since I’m 2 hours away — y’all don’t know how much it helps and relieves stress for her and I both! The first few days after the last treatment brought on a lot of body aches and overall unpleasantness, but she seemed to get over that fairly quickly (roughly 4-5 days). The biggest ordeal was and is her mobility after that. Her oncologist prescribed some Tramadol, in hopes that it gives her some relief until we can figure out what’s going on.

Despite all of that, we managed to make the best of it and we buzzed around the treatment center laughing, as I would make car noises while pushing her in the wheelchair (to her amusement). Mom would also critique my wheelchair driving abilities (still a mom through and through), and she’d constantly comment about how fast we were going, and that she needed goggles and a scarf to fly behind her (all I could picture was snoopy). 😂 We laughed uncontrollably over that for a solid 5 minutes — I could not get the image out of my head! There were a couple times I’d forget that she wasn’t just sitting in a chair beside me, and when we I would get up to make our next move, I’d walk off… and then remember that I have to push her, and quickly would run back and fetch her. #oops 🙎

There are also a couple times when she’d tell me to stop at the trashcan so she could throw something away, and I’d forget, and run right past it, and she’d say “YEEEEEAAAAAAWN.” 🚗💨 This never got old (unfortunately) and I’m sure that the people who don’t understand our humor (basically everyone) think we’re crazy and probably quietly say, “Bless their hearts..” under their breath. The demeanor in the cancer treatment center is pretty quiet and solemn as you can imagine, so we are a bit… um, different. Oh well — sorry, not sorry. Here’s hoping her hip pain eases up and she has minimal side effects this time around. 🍻