The Noive!

Hunk: Now look here, Dorothy, you ain’t using your head about Miss Gulch.

You’d think you didn’t have any brains at all.

Dorothy: I have so got brains.

I feel so much better. Last night I announced to Bobby, “I can wipe my feet on the front mat”. Both of them. Since my surgery we haven’t had substantial rain and I haven’t felt the need to do that. But yesterday Bobby and I came in from a long and tiring day and without thinking I wiped my feet. My weaker right leg moved back and forth, picking up that right foot and placing it squarely down in front of where it had been - nice as you please. Then I swiped it behind me and shuffled it back under me, putting my weight on it while simultaneously picking up my left leg and repeating those steps with it.

I wiped my feet!

I’ve been feeling rather depressed about losing most of the amazing physical gains I had on the right side during that first week after my surgery. I still have some increased sensation, but a lot of the awareness of my body parts, called proprioception, has faded as mysteriously as it appeared. Last night’s little rain episode was a big boost.

Did I mention that yesterday was exhausting? I got the call from my terrific insurance nurse Tuesday with the go ahead for my MRI. She just caught Bobby and me on the way to Hopkins We were able to schedule it for yesterday along with two other appointments and now I believe we’re DONE until treatment starts. Wahoo! Every time someone said, “You’ll have to schedule a blah blah blah before your treatment starts” I said,” Can I do it today?” So rather than go back again, this was our day (times approx) for a CT scan.

• 8:45 Group teaching for oncology patients
• 10:30 Met with my daily oncology nurse Kim
• 11:30 Met with radiation oncologist’s nurse for teaching and to discuss treatment plan
• 12:30 Met with both of the medical oncologist’s research nurses
• 2:00 Bloodwork
• 2:25 Late lunch at the hospital in an actual restaurant with a waiter and a sushi bar
• 3:15 Super MRI – New and improved! With bigger magnets and louder sounds! Delayed, but not as long as they said.
• 8:15 Home! With Starbucks and Chinese in hand.

I have no idea what anyone said to me. Oh, I have all the materials, and I’ll go over it and Bobby and I will decipher it all and remember. But still. Haven’t any of the professionals there heard the expression “less is more?” In the group class, the person talked so fast I was hearing her, but not absorbing any of the details - just sort of zoned out. A lot of her subject matter was aimed at folks with IV chemo. I felt guilty sitting there with my radiation and oral chemo with lower side effects self.

One thing is for sure. I feel safe. I feel they all know what they are doing, have been doing it for years, and are very up to date with the way it should be done today. They are confident in themselves and in their abilities. They can make decisions, adjust someone else’s schedule, and empower a pissed off lab tech to draw my blood painlessly with one stick in my “bad” arm even though I came in the back door with my paperwork and lab slips in my hand. They'll do anything to get me better.

People at Hopkins have so got brains. And hearts. (and homes . . . the noive!)