Another CRH employee, Rebecca Winter (friend from First Presbytrian), worked with Cyndi to make the booth a great representation for both the hospital and the cancer center. The backdrop was a sign that said, "Cancer Never Sleeps", and they brought in a twin bed with a handmade quilt, and there was a rocking chair to the side of the bed with a pink sash across it, and the sash had my name on it. Rebecca's daughter, Gabby, who just finished 6th grade, took information from my CaringBridge posts and wrote a fairy tale/bedtime story about me, and the story and great illustrations was presented in a nice scrapbook and laid across the pillow on the bed. I was amazed at the wonderful, creative job Gabby did to turn a considerable amount of grown up and "not so easy to understand" information into a story suitable for a bedtime story. Thank you again, Gabby!
The Survivor Walk was at 7:00, and I have to admit as the survivors emerged from the crowd to make the walk, I was a bit ver klempt as we began the trek led by the Relay for Life folks. At the end of the lap, we were met by other Relay for Lifers who hugged us and placed medals around our necks. Very moving.
Then came the Care Giver Walk. Barry, Traci and Kelsey were toward the front of the group, and I could see their faces as the person in charge had them first look at their hands. She said, "These are the hands that have cared for the one with cancer, the ones who have helped bathe them and feed them." Then she had them cross their arms across their chests, and she said, "These are the arms that have comforted and held the one with cancer." And finally, she had them place their hands over their hearts, and she said, "These are the hearts who have loved the one with cancer." I saw tears falling from Traci's eyes after the first few words, and by the end of the exercise, she was pretty broken up.
Kelsey has done what she could when she's been home, but when you are away at college, you don't see as much of the daily-ness of how cancer affects a household. Traci and Barry have seen how sick I've been. They've waited on me hand and foot, they've brought me medicine and prepared food or made a run to get something at the store that I thought I might be able to eat. They've all hugged me when I've cried through this ordeal. So honestly, the Care Giver Walk was more touching to me than anything. They made their lap just as I did, and they were greeted with hugs and handshakes by the Relay for Life volunteers at the end of the walk. And as Barry and Traci approached me, I saw tears flowing from both of them. Such a sweet moment and affirmation of a job well done.
Whew! And then at 9:15 or so, the names of survivors or of those who had passed were read, and luminarias were lit along the pathways at the park. Although we were exhausted from the near 100 degee heat and being out all evening, we made the walk around the park to see the beautiful lumarias lit to honor so many. It was a very nice evening in spite of the heat, and it was good to see so many people working to raise money to find a cure. I can't wait for that day when a cure is found either!
As to how I'm doing right now, I have had eight treatments and have 25 more to go. I will have 17 more just like I'm getting now, and the last eight will be a "boost" to the tumor area. I have a nice pink booby now, and even though I don't have treatments on Saturdays, the pinkness is still there, and I'm trying to be as careful as I can to keep the area moisturized so that I won't get blisters. I'm afraid I may not succeed, but it won't be from lack of trying. I haven't noticed swelling in my arm, but I do have a "full" feeling in my underarm area, and I walked around quite a bit last night with my arm up over my head just to try to relieve pressure from the underarm area. It's almost like I have something under my arm, but when I feel of it, there's nothing there.
As I said before, radiation doesn't hurt when I get the treatments, but the effects occur sometime later, and the effects will gradually worsen with more and more radiation. I went to the local health food store today in search of Emu Oil, which I have read is good for burns and inflammation. The only thing I could find showed alcohol as the third ingredient, so I didn't buy it. I DID buy Calendula ointment (Marigold derivitive) which is also supposedly good for burns and inflammation of the skin, and I used it earlier in hopes that it might be of help to me. I also got Calendula soap, which I will try out tonight, and it actually has bits of Marigolds in the soap!
Thank you all for your cards, notes and comments of encouragement. I still need them!
(I'll post a few pictures from Relay for Life in a bit.)
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