The Winter Holidays Approach: Chemotherapy

Obie Editorial Team

My family lived out of state, and there was no way I could make the trip for the holidays, so my parents decided to drive down. We went out for dinner and had a good time. After dinner, we all went back to the house and visited for a bit before they went home. Mom brought down some hats, and my daughter and I had a little fun playing with them.  

It was my first family holiday since getting sick, and I felt bad not getting to see the whole family as I usually did on the holidays. Both of my grandmothers are in their 70s, and not in the best of health. Plus, I have a sister who has four kids that I love dearly. I missed not getting to see them all.  

It was a long weekend, and an exhausting one, even though we didn’t really do anything after my family left. We did do church on Sunday. Our church has an indoor playground for the smaller children, so after Sunday morning service, we hung around for a while and let her play. I grabbed a seat and just watched her play with the other children. She has so much fun…and it wastes time. It occupies her and lets me rest for a bit. All I would be doing otherwise is laying on the couch…and she would be bored. This is a better use of our time. After we left the church, we went and got something to eat, then went home and everyone had a nap.  

On Monday, I went back to work. On Tuesday, I only worked half a day because I had a visit with the oncologist. He examined me and said my tumor had shrunk significantly.  He was so pleased that he sent me upstairs for my general surgeon, who specialized in breast cancer patients, to examine me as well. They were both happy and shocked by our progress considering I had only received two treatments. We were winning the war! My next treatment was scheduled for the following day. I called my boss and let him know we were going ahead with the scheduled treatment and that I wouldn’t be in the office the next day, then I headed home to share the good news with my friend, then called my parents to share the news with them. It was a small victory – but in this war, you celebrate every victory, no matter how small.