While At The Mercy of Others

Walking into the Johns Hopkins Cancer Center was both humbling and scary, but I was greeted immediately by one of their many concierges.  He took both my hands and said, "You're new here; we're going to take very good care of you."  He directed me to a registrar who confirmed my information and gave me a badge to wear.  The badge had a GPS chip in it; my doctor knew I was there and how long I would be waiting, and if I wanted to, could sit in their cafe, and the doctor's assistant would come and get me.  Amazing.

My surgery went well.  The surgeon was able to extract clear margins, and the seminal node is clear.  I'll start radiation in a couple of weeks; chemo is a remote possibility.  I'll also do hormonal suppressant therapy for five years.  Those treating me were competent and compassionate.  I am beholden to them.

I'm well.  I'm happy.  I'm blessed.

"To laugh often and much;
to win the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children;
to earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends;
to appreciate beauty;
to find the best in others;
to leave the world a bit better
whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;
to know even one life has breathed easier
because you lived here.
This is to have succeeded."

from ROBIN by David Itzkoff taken from Ralph Waldo Emerson

A Week in the Life

It has been a very busy week. On Monday night I taught a childbirth/Lamaze class. I did this a lot during the 1980's, and as I mentioned in a previous blog, teach a class every once in a while. I loved being pregnant and giving birth and I enjoy being being around prospective parents and helping them through this interesting time in their lives. It's a great privilege.

Tuesday night we celebrated our middle daughter's 32nd birthday with a dinner at a local restaurant, Clyde's, where we are regulars. Her fiance, Dan, and her Godparents, Margie and Dave, joined us. Margie and David have been our closest friends for 34 years. They are our travel buddies and Richard, an only child, considers David to be his brother. Richard and I will lose them to the West Coast in May as they are moving to San Diego to be with their children. Richard and I are really sad to lose them, but happy for them as they really miss their kids. We've been out there three times within that past two years and really love San Diego and I see a lot of "going West" in our future.

Wednesday afternoon, I picked up our 9 year old grand daughter from school, ran to the grocery store, dropped off the Lamaze teaching materials I had borrowed from a friend, and came home to a pacing husband and an 11-month old baby missing her mother. Richard needed to return to work so I held the baby on my hip while I helped the 9 year old with her homework. The baby finally let me put her in the high chair, where I fed her Cheerios with one hand and cooked dinner with the other. Now I understand why only the young should have children. I'm not sure if Richard ever sat down to dinner. Their respective parents picked them up at around 9:00 PM. Suffice to say I slept well on Wednesday night.

Tonight, Richard and I drove into Baltimore to meet my aunt and cousin for dinner at Sabatino's in Little Italy. My uncle had surgery this morning at Johns Hopkins. He's doing really well and will probably be discharged tomorrow morning. Then they'll return home to Lewes, Delaware. After our dinners of gnocchi with marinara sauce and house salads, we stopped at Vaccaro's (a great Italian pastry shop) to get my uncle a milkshake made with chocolate gelato. We also bought a few sfogiatelli: Italian seashell pastries filled with mascarpone cheese. Yum!! Breakfast tomorrow will be lovely! (So will dinner as we brought home much of the gnocchi!).