A Truly Great Day

With the exception of my abrupt, extremely painful wake-up at 3am after failing to monitor my painkiller intake during my Valium-induced sleep (these back spasms of mine are no joke), today was a pretty perfect day.

After that painful back incident in the early morning hours, my mom and Will both stayed up all night, helping me keep on track with my meds, and giving me back rubs and foot rubs and shoulder rubs and hand rubs until about 8am. I was in such a state of bliss that I actually hummed, laughed, and sang (Andrea Bocelli, no less) while sleeping peacefully.

Dr. Sugarbaker entered my room at about 8:45am, checked my NG tube (which showed no backup of liquids in my gut) and within minutes, one of his residents had pulled out the dreaded, beastly thing. Goodbye, NG tube!! Although the Sugarbaker NG tube was leagues better than the standard one I endured at Good Samaritan, I was VERY happy to see it go. With it went the phlegm I'd been coughing up for days and any feeling of distress. The NG tube was gone and, as I told a grinning Dr. Sugarbaker, I was a new woman.

I slept even better after that. Hours later, my Foley catheter was removed (the one that collects my pee) and I was truly free. Besides the fluids I'm getting from my IV, which is painlessly plugged into my Portacath, I am totally tubeless. I can't even express how gratifying this is.

I took long strolls down the halls today, reveling in the brilliant, unobstructed feeling of walking unattached. No breathing tubes, no Jackson-Pratt drains, no chest tubes, no huge needle in my neck, no NG tube, and no Foley catheter. Bliss.

Mary Ellen, who gave me a cleansing acupuncture session yesterday, stopped by to check on me and as we discussed our next appointment back home in L.A. I started to realize that this part of my cancer-killing journey, the hardest part, was largely behind me. Double bliss.

My cousin Vivian and her daughters Erika and Erin came to visit today, along with my sweet dog, Winston. I haven't seen the love in 10 days and was SO excited to see him. I'm pretty sure the feeling was mutual - he gave me about two thousand extra-loving licks, and rested peacefully and happily in my arms. Triple bliss.

Erika gave me a wonderful gift - her classmates (the wonderful third grade class at Woods Academy, a great group that I met with just before my surgery), made me a "WunderGlo" banner with their painted hands along the border of it. Erika and Erin also got me a sweet stuffed animal named Love Bug, who is already one of my favorite cuddling buddies. Hanging out with my family and friends (which also included my nurses, my mother-in-law Carol, sis-in-law Marie, buddy
Junior) AND Winston lifted my spirits and made me feel like a million bucks.

I got back to my room just in time to be informed that my clear liquid diet (broth, jello, clear juice, tea) would begin tomorrow, but I could indulge in sips of my favorite drinks today. Chamomile tea never tasted so good.

After I caught up with dozens of friends via text and email, I took a delicious nap, all bundled up in a Duke blanket my friend Mike and his mom bought for me, and awoke to my friend Andrea, my three nurses, and
the Duke basketball game. The Blue Devils picked up a solid win at Miami tonight, a fitting birthday present for Coach K.

And now, I'm relaxing, winding down after a great day, thanking my body for its continued progress, and looking forward to some veggie broth and vegan jello for breakfast. I'm a very, very happy camper.