Labs, Oncologist and the Chemo Run and The Dance Revue

That time has arrived once again. Run #2 of the Oxilaplatin is scheduled for this morning. First I'll have labs drawn and if the white counts are normal and the platelets and RBC's are the same normal, we're on. "We gonna do us some chemo!" as the daughter chortles.

 

She doesn't take this lightly but tries to lighten up the situation with humor. I'm finally mellowed out a bit and I'm gathering up the pieces of me that I feel were whisked away with each diagnosis and each test, procedure and surgery. I've managed, most of the time, to put it aside and squeeze in some normal living.

 

The flat iron smoothed out some of the natural curl and frizz, lipstick, eyeliner and eyeshadow graced my face. My teeth glowed from the scrubbing, a dash of perfume, a pair of platform sandals in black and white polka dots protected my feet and matched my blouse of the same design. This worn over a pair of white capris', I was ready to be the audience and support for Carrie's dance recital.

 

This is my first recital. My vision of this would be to watch cute little 3 to 10 yr old in complete unsych, spinning in the wrong direction from each other, halting, sitting down or wandering off stage to the giggles of the audience.

 

I was so wrong. Of course they were there, the beginners, cute in their little costumes, glittered up, and toddling around watching offstage their instructions mimicking the moves they were to manage.

 

What I wasn't ready for was the young ladies with 15 yrs of experience under their tutu's. I was in awe. It was a real performance. The young ladies, in their wispy costumes that had slits to the hip, diaphanous fabric swirled around the calves of their legs and the pirouetted around the floor. The solos were just as awesome as the synchronized movements of the groups of young women. Tap dancers and Hip Hop strutted their stuff. Their was no sequins on the Hip Hop dancers, most of them wore T Shirts and cotton pants that had the crotch hanging inches below what we would consider normal.

 

Scene changes were done quickly and professionally. I did not realize the true size of the dance company. Carrie's class in once a week for 1 hour on Tuesday. This is her first year so we are not the most experienced in this and we found that out on this rodeo. It was our first rodeo and it showed. This dance company is HUGE. At noon, the first group of dancers had theirs. This was the evening revue

We missed the group photos so Carrie's photo wasn't in the program guide. We made the blocking on stage but the day before the performance, we missed the dress rehearsal.

 

I was guiding this ship of Carrie's dance career. I've always like dance just as the husband has himself immersed in music as evidenced by his album and CD collection that gather dust here now that he MP3's everything. I match his interest but my photography and my love for cameras. I have a collection of cameras; he has his albums.

 

This ship went aground when I had to start all the tests, procedures, surgery and chemo. I just wasn't up to taking Carrie so her mother took over. My poor disorganized daughter dropped the ball. Carrie and dance was my idea and the daughter was backup in the event I couldn't get her to the studio. When she became the "main man" to take  care of this plus it was becoming time for the recital, she was clueless as to what "came next".

 

It WAS our first rodeo. We will do much better next year just as Carrie will be more proficient in her dance skills.

 

And on Carrie's recital; she did so good. The Break Out routine was a hit. I'll post pictures of her in her costumes on this site later today. I want to get some printer ink and print some of the pictures from her photo shoot here today.

 

The grandparents will get copies of them, her father, mother and of course me will have framed copies.

 

I have less then an hour now to get ready to make my doctor's appointment. Though I dread it, hopefully I will be done for another 3 weeks unless I again have a reaction to the chemo. If that happens, the doctor may have to change my protocol and that medicine.

 

For the next 8 days I will not be able to be under direct cold air, touch anything cold, stand in front of the fridge and the cold air there and drink anything colder then room temperature. I was told this condition could last from 3 to 5 days. It was 8 days for me. Ice cream tasted so good after those 8 days!

 

I'm off to get dressed and put something into my stomach before this  morning gets any older.

 

A report will follow. Count on it. This is my record of treatment and reactions to it and a little bit of personal notations on the other events in my life. It becomes really useful as time passes. I refer back to this for dates and times of interventions in my care.

 

I'm done for now....I really must get dressed and be gone!