Wise Words

"Teresa has been given a cup of tea in the front hall of New Waterford General Hospital. The head nursing sister was the first to come across her. If it had been that nice young intern from away, the hysterical woman would have been given a shot in the vein instead of a cup of tea. The head nurse, however, has noticed whether they drink the tea or not, the mere act of reaching out to receive something that must not be spilled seems to have a profoundly calming effect on all but the downright insane." Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie Macdonald

I love the thought. She is so right. We have received a million cups of tea. We have served a half million more.

We are so so close. We received our last calendar. This should all be over by December 22. She has her last spinal tap with a bone marrow biopsy at the end of November. If everything is clean, she finishes her last oral chemo on December 7th. Then one more surgery to remove the port. We begged to keep the port but they would not let her. Something about infection risk. They are so worried about that sort of thing. Go figure.

I had a long talk with someone about relapse. I guess I am hoping I can really hear about it now. So here is the scoop. If children relapse during treatment the tumor is usually a close relative of the original almost a clone. It sort of goes away, feeds on the chemo and comes back with a vengeance. It is not pretty. Transplant, 30% quality of life discussions, a place that tea would be a constant companion.

If the child relapses post-treatment, it is a completely new kind of cancer and you start again. This stuff is tricky. It is smart, it is evil. It flys under the radar and does lots of damage before you even know.

We are focusing on the:

If you make it through treatment and don't relapse you chance of getting it again is like that of any other person. I am going for lightning not striking again.

I will be needing lots of tea for the next few months and then maybe a stiff shot after that.