chemo brain

We were warned about it. Sometimes when you're on chemo your brain just refuses to function. Sort of like pregnancy brain. So Becca goes to pick up her daughter today, whom she has known for eight years, which is as long as it is possible to have known Rachel. She enters the building, sees two girls playing a game Rachel always plays. The girl with her back to Becca has a black coat like Rachel's and a pony tail like Rachel's. Becca leans down behind the girl and almost kisses her before WAIT A MINUTE. !!! That's a high-school age girl who is helping out this afternoon!

So you or I would naturally recover, albeit with much chagrin, right? But no, this is when chemo brain kicks in. What does Becca say in this moment of panic?

"I thought you were Emily!"

(Emily?)

"I mean I thought you were my sister!"

(you're picking up your sister now?)

"I mean I thought you were my daughter!"

(there we go.)

"I mean Rachel!"

(that would be her name, yes.)

Then Becca proceeds to get Rachel and bring her out to the wrong car. Oy. I guess I should count myself lucky they both made it home in one piece. So that's what the current drugs are doing to Becca. And we'll take it. She's pretty much felt great all day and had no stomach problems at all. I'd say we're off to a pretty good start.

Today we had a check-up again with our surgeon. You know the drill: I will now commence effusive flattery.

She started off examining Becca, and, like our oncologist yesterday, was very pleased with the softening and shrinking of the tumor. She also mentioned offhand that even if it goes away we do not get out of surgery, because there are always cells left behind. Woah woah woah BACK UP. I had no idea that could even happen. I thought we were just talking about shrinking it as much as we can. You learn something new everyday but boy it is exciting to think about the possibility of these new drugs doing even more damage to this tumor, to the point where it may even be hard to find it?! Wow. Not that we need to hope for this but wow. Gives us a new endgame for our visualization exercises, doesn't it?

We also talked more about when the surgery would happen. (But still not what exactly the surgery would be - for which we need our post-H/T scans and the genetics results - it still looks like the genetics appointment is a go for tomorrow...) Right now if the rest of the 11 weeks of H/T goes as planned, Dr. H. wants the surgery about 3 weeks after that, so she's thinking some time the week of June 8. Perhaps we will move Sammy's birthday from the 11th to the 6th, and just do them all in a row: 5th, 6th, 7th. I'm sure he will not complain. Jack might though, since he would be last. But Jack, see, he can be reasoned with. Sammy, well, read back a few posts to refresh your memory.

We're not sure what this means for our 20th reunion June 19. Incredibly, breast surgery patients usually only end up staying for 2 nights in the hospital afterwards, but who knows what the rest of the recovery is like. Perhaps we will just go up for a day or something.

Anyway we will see Dr. H again in May. Before she swept from the room she gave Becca a big hug and a kiss on her cheek. You heard me right. I would run to check her credentials again if we hadn't already heard such praise from previous patients and nursing staff. It's true, this person is also a deft surgeon. :-) And it seems like this is not her default manner for approaching patients. How could it be? Wouldn't most patients be taken aback? Not Becca. This is exactly what works for Becca. There is definitely a connection there. We just can't believe our good fortune.

Oh and before I forget, thank you to Michelle Bergland for taking our littles to school this morning, and BIG thanks to Kathy Cook, who rescued us this morning when Jack was too sick to go to school! We called her at 7AM and she was over at our house in 10 minutes. The alternative was schlepping a sick Jack into Boston where he'd be in a waiting room with possibly immune-suppressed patients! Not desirable. We made it into Boston just in time. Thank you!