Boring, boring, boring! Thankfully that pretty much sums up my last 3 month check up. Blood work - check! Physical exam - check! Good for 3 more months - check! I don't have to go back until after Thanksgiving...yeah!
My favorite nurse Natalie was back working in oncology though and I was so glad to see her. She left the clinic to go work on the floor and followed her heart back to our oncology clinic which is best for her and the patients....she laughs more than any other person I have ever met.
I also met a couple of really nice ladies this time. One lady was significantly older than me and the other one was somewhere between the two of us. We talked about good books we have read and ones we should read and we silently wondered how each other was doing in their fight against cancer, but we didn't ask. Instead we silently drew our own conclusions. It's funny how oncology patients can pretty well figure out where another oncology patients is in their journey by their appearance and their actions....do they have a port? do they have hair? if they have hair how long is it? what color is it? have they had a pedicure? are they eating and drinking? did they bring a "day bag" or just a book? There are all kinds of "signs" that we notice and think to ourself, "Yeah, they are past chemo and have been for a while and they look healthy and seem optimistic!" You watch for them during subsequent appointments and some people you see regularly and others you never see again...and instead you see new people with the "deer in the headlight look" and long, healthy hair on their heads and you know that they are the newbies.......and so the journey continues......
"The best way out is always through."..............Robert Frost
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