I appreciate my doctors, but as my wonderful medical oncologist said to me, he writes the orders and talks to the patients, but it is the nurses who do all of the heavy lifting and today it was all about the nurses taking care of me, holding my hand and checking in on me to make sure that I was okay on all fronts.
My nurses made sure that I understood every single step of my chemo, made sure that I was hydrated, comfortable and reassured. When it was time for me to head down to radiation, the nurses greeted me to explain what I could look forward to with my radiation treatment, they also told me about certain creams that will be helpful to ease my radiated skin, I had three nurses with me the entire time I was going through the toughest day, I had to go through my trial run and my actual treatment together because with the verdict handed down from the surgeon, no surgery, the need for rapid treatment and cocombinant treatments made it vital that my first chemo and my first radiation treatment go hand in hand.
I spent an hour and a half in my tight mask on a steel table and it was so, so hard. I didn’t know it was so long which was good because if I had known it was going to be that long, I may not have made it. When it was done, I told the nurses how hard it had been for me and they told me I had been a trooper and they promised me that tomorrow it will be so much shorter. When I went into the waiting room I walked passed my husband and ran to the ladies room and cried by myself. My husband knew I was upset and he took care of me by getting me signed out and taking me to the car so I could cry on his shoulder. I felt better after that. I think I cried because at one point I didn’t think that I could get through the radiation treatments because I didn’t quite realize how much time the trial run and the calculations had actually taken, once I understood how short the treatments are in comparison, it made all of the difference. I know I’ll be fine, tomorrow will be a walk in the park compared to today and that helps me feel so much better.
I am so lucky to have such great nurses taking care of me.
My oncology nurse Tara has been with me since the beginning, now that I graduated to being a regular, she has raised the stakes in terms of endearment. Today she called me sweet pea, sweetheart, baby and love, I can’t lie, I like being called sweet pea and such, it feels good. Since being back at the center, I have had the chance to visit with my nutritionist and my spech therapist, initially their eyes lit up with recognition, but when they realized I was hooked up to an i.v, their eyes dimmed for but a second, quickly covered up with a smile of welcome. I admire these nurses, it must be hard keeping an emotional distance all the while being as nurturing and compassionate as they are, day in and day out.
laurieanichols 