Iphone Apps and Chemo…. Who Does That? We Do.

A quick update for y’all….Michael is a chemotherapy marathoner.

Again, as usual, I am making up my own Lynne Knowlton vocabulary, but seriously, this guy can knock it out of the ballpark. He is now on his second round of chemo. Each is a week-long, with one day in the hospital for IV chemo. The rest of the week is in a pill form, at home. His first chemo round, he was quite ill and didn’t make it out of the hospital without spending time in Ambulatory care. This week, he did much better, and just finished his second round . His routine is one week of chemo and two weeks off for the next 6-8 months. His blood work has improved, and he is slightly less tired. Gotta love that !! This next picture is the story of his life….ok, ok, minus the wine. I threw that in the photo purely for my own kicks.

Now that app is called Cartoonatic. Pay the 99 cents and get the upgrade. Totally worth it. Great features. Do you suppose that I am the only person who falls in love with apps while observing chemo?! I think this is payback for Michael goofing on his new cell phone while I was in labor with Mackenzie. I think we are officially even now. This is a similar shot but with the Hipstamatic app…….

Truth be told, if the roles were reversed and if it were me sitting in the chemo chair, I would be whining for cookies and popsicles and French wine. No worries mates….I am not posting any needle pics, I don’t want to gross you out. But this is really what chemotherapy is all about….

I kept expecting a drum roll, or some fireworks to go off. I imagined that it would be a big hoopla, but really, this was a hop skip and jump in the road. It is a long journey, and this is part of the walk. No drum roll, no craziness, just sitting in a chair and watching the world go by in a quiet silence that seems surreal.

Chemotherapy is nothing like most people imagine…. I imagine. Even me, the one with the vivid imagination. It is just about real people, trying to help others get better. It is about keeping an eye on the prize….trying to get better…. It is the reality of life, for so many. I have watched it. Up close and personal. My big take home is that I want to walk around the chemo rooms and hug people. I want to redesign some of the hospital rooms to make it a more beautiful space for others to heal in. Ok, ok, I took this next pic in the Seychelles…but I can imagine beautiful spaces at PMH to help others to cope through this illness.

Why not make it easy to put a patients mind in a beautiful place? Who needs to sit in an ugly room? Can you tell that I am an interior designer? We think that way.

I am sure Brett is the only person who has ever practiced hockey outside Princess Margaret Hospital. But hey, real life is just that. The day still begins, the sun still sets.

Michael is looking good. He is feeling good. He receives an injection once a week, from yours truly. Yes, it still gives me a hot flash to give him a needle. I am in complete and utter awe how he is such a cancer sumo wrestler.

I am sure it is because of all of you ….helping us along the way….with your positive thoughts, fantastic energy and prayers. He has a pretty great team behind him. I have said it before, and I will say it again, we don’t need cancer to park here anymore. For Michael, there is no cure for his cancer, but there is hope for improvement and hope to continue fighting a good fight for a long time. Imagine all the apps I will discover?!!!! I will never be bored.

It is about closing the door of illness, and opening a new one with some good times (and delish french wine) along the way.

And yesssss, I think we can all still learn about new apps along this journey. This next photo app is called Adobe Photo Shop Express. Road trippin…..

Is it all rosy and cheery and perfect ? Nooooooo way. Actually ~ not even close to it. There are pitfalls, and hard days and illness and medications that would shock the bejesus out of most people. The side effects and medical lists are mind blowingly long. I gave up on reading them. It is like reading a manual….it’s not gonna happen. Manuals and medication lists are punishment. Who does that? Gross.