Mukilteo Musings

The Day After

My final and 12th chemo happened yesterday. Most of the time I had the same nurse, Eileen, so we gave her a little parting gift. Today and until tomorrow I am on my pump. My next CT scan will be Wednesday, a week from tomorrow. I don't feel too bad so I changed my dining room table to look more like Thanksgiving thanks to my high school friends (yet again, you darling people) who sent a Thanksgiving centerpiece.

But, what is this? The house is cold even though we turned on the heater fairly early this morning. Oh great! The furnace which is actually fairly new has stopped working. My dear husband promised me last summer while I was undergoing chemo that he would take care of the yearly furnace service before fall especially after our remodeling. Well, it did not happen (and yes, he has already had an earful from me) so here I am with my pump and kind of gimpy with neuropathies that are aggravated by cold waiting for someone to come and fix the furnace. They promised to come today but it could be as late as 10 PM. I told them I was a cancer patient on chemotherapy and I needed things fixed as soon as possible. At least we have a gas fireplace but Dave is at work and I am afraid to turn it on. It might melt my tubing from my pump or who knows---my pump might erupt in flames if I am too close.

The other thing that occurred this morning is Apolo decided to chew on the TV remote. I was sitting at the breakfast table when I heard a plastic kind of crunching. I did not pay too much attention because it sounded like he was chewing on his nylabone. But, he usually doesn't chew on it in the morning. Up I lept from the table which is like slow motion with my pump and gimpiness to discover he had stolen the remote. How many times is this he has chewed on a TV remote?? At least ten times. At 6 1/2 years old, I thought he was over this sort of thing. He is still mad that he did not get a walk on Sunday or yesterday and he will not get a walk today because I am on my pump and waiting for a FURNACE GUY.

Finally, as I was reading the papers today and checking as I always do, the obituaries, a thought occurred to me. I would like to see the oppobituaries. You know, the opposite. I can't help but look and I read about 52 or 45 year olds dying after long battles with cancer. Well, people do survive after battles with cancer. My Mom, for one. I think they should have little pictures of people in the little boxes with their stories of surviving strokes, heart attacks, mrsa, and cancer. And they could call it the "Oppobituaries." Yes, I would like that and I would find it inspiring instead of depressing.

Wish me luck. It is 65 degrees in this house and I am going to try to turn on the gas fireplace! I hope I don't end up in the obituaries as someone who caught themselves on fire because their chemo pump ignited.


The table before the food.

UPDATE: The furnace guy arrived at about 3 PM and fixed it. Yes! I guess the igniter had worn out so he replaced it. And we will have a maintenance next week. Total bill: $414 including next week's service. We didn't really need this right before the holidays but we did not exactly have a choice. Oh and I managed to turn the fireplace both on and off without blowing myself up. Whew!