A bit of overload

Today was my two hour post-op education session, which was excellent however once again I am feeling a little more sober and experiencing a bit of 'information overload'.
There were about nine of us in the class and it was very nice to see and talk to other people who had surgery around the same date as my surgery and to hear their stories. There was a good representation of ages and nationalities, cancer is not prejudiced.
I found out about more resources available. One was very interesting in light of fairly new research that regular exercise post breast cancer diagnosis seems to decrease the risk of recurrence. There is a separate gym at our university for cancer patients, it is called a 'clean gym', the purpose is to help prevent infections for people going through chemotherapy, therefore immuno-suppressed. Membership is free for the person as well as a partner. I think I will be taking them up on that offer.
One study that was presented was focused on the benefits of physical activity during chemotherapy, participants complete four questionnaires during different stages of chemo as well as wear a pedometer every day throughout treatment - could be interesting, a bit of a commitment.
What sobered me somewhat was my perception that I was going to be having more treatment than the others in the group and things were moving along much faster in my treatment. A few things that were said were that standard chemo is 4 to 6 cycles, if required. I have been told I am looking at 6 - 8 cycles and possibly a year of another type of chemo that would be given weekly. I also seem to be looking at radiation following the cycles of chemo due to the lymph node involvement. It was stated in the class that, if required, the appointment with the medical oncologist would be one hour. I was told that my appointment would be two hours duration. When I mentioned this, the instructor said standard was one hour but that yes, some people did require a two hour appointment. Way to feel special!
Following the class I went to see my mother who was looking much improved. She was sitting in a chair with no oxygen on, freshly showered and looking quite bright. I fixed her hair a little and added some makeup while she told me about her day. Once again the food was high on her complaint list but she did seem to have enjoyed her breakfast pancakes, mention of them brought a big smile. The doctor told me that she has pneumonia and the intestinal infection so she will have two weeks worth of antibiotics and they will be looking into options for care once she returns to the lodge.
Once home, I made myself a late lunch, then started reviewing the mail. There in the midst of all the bills and boring stuff was an envelope addressed to Grandma Laura and the return address showed it was from my three grandchildren. Just when I was starting to look too far into the future again and become a little anxious, here was a reminder of what really counted. In the envelope were three pages, there was a different precious hand tracing on each of the pages with the message that even though they are not here with me, they are giving me their hands to hold. How sweet! I will keep these pages to look at to give me courage as I start on my next steps, it sure was just what I needed today.

Take care