Thank g-d, we had a wonderful Purim this year. I started a Purim blog post but then decided to bake hamentaschen with the kids. I hope to finish it up a little bit later. Highlights included Sivan’s 7th birthday and the fact that I had the strength to bake her a cake. Tani was home sick with another strep infection, so I treated him to the beaters and bowl after making the frosting. Yarden was adorable in her panda costume and we were lucky that Tzipporah, a volunteer, came over to the apartment to read Megillah for all of us. For the most part, I stayed indoors since I can’t be in big crowds, but I did venture out really early to deliver Mishloach Manot to three friends in the neighborhood. My costume was a big hit and I was essentially hermetically sealed inside the giant T-Rex costume. But by Friday night, all of the hamentaschen baking, Shabbat cooking, Seuda making, Mishloach Manot organizing and packing, really just hit me and I was wiped. I passed out on the couch at 7:30 p.m. and Gaby waited up until 10:00 so he could wake me for my shot. I was back in bed and asleep by 10:30 and spent most of Shabbat just resting.
Sunday and Monday were physically my best days and on Monday, I decided to take myself on a walk to the Super Market on Derech Beit Lechem. I promised everyone I would walk slow, be careful, and I wouldn’t buy too much. I left the apartment to beautiful sunny skies and walked down Efrata street, where I encountered a woman puking her guts out on one of the trees. I quickly jumped into the street to avoid her and whispered sorry to myself since I couldn’t help her and jogged a bit to get away from her. Poor woman! The walk to the Supermarket was pretty quick since it was downhill and I had decided to make the kids tacos for dinner. Unfortunately, Falcon (aka Super Deal) was out of taco shells so I decided to improvise and buy tortilla chips instead. I picked up some salsa, ground turkey meat, shredded lettuce and a block of cheddar cheese. Then I started the walk back home and boy was it harder than what I remember it to be. But, I managed, even if it wasn’t at the pace I once was able to do and I walked up Dostrovsky with a packed bag over my shoulder and made it home! To say that I felt like a champion is an understatement. I rested a bit and then got to work on dinner, putting the meat into the freezer for future use. I grated the block of cheddar, cut up tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, rinsed and dried the lettuce, opened cans of beans and chick peas and made some guacamole. I think the kids loved it but I’m not sure, I went back to work and managed to put in an almost 10 hour work day.
I think it was the high of the holiday and Monday’s independence, that really helped me push through yesterday’s R-CHOP. It also helped that I brought headphones so I could block the noises in the unit and I was able to sleep from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. I slept through almost all of the Rituximab and most of the chemo. I developed a rash on the back of my head so Gaby closed the curtain around my bed and I was able to endure treatment without a head covering. When Dr. Ashkenazi came to see me, he was all smiles at my bald head and took a quick look at the rash. He agreed that I should try to air out my head as much as possible to keep the rashes at bay. We had a really nice meeting and by 4:00 p.m. I was discharged.
I’m pretty wiped so that’s all the energy I have for today. Thanks for all the wonderful and encouraging messages! Only one R-CHOP left please g-d in Phase I of my treatment, then after Pesach we start Phase II.
Please continue to keep me in your tefillot: Lior Shira Batya bat Chaya Yehudit
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