Читать книгу The Long Road Back - Beray Thigpen - Страница 7

Dora and I started our weekly trips back and forth to the cancer center after my initial assessment resulted in a recommendation to begin treatment immediately.

We boarded a plane every Tuesday and prepared for treatments on Wednesdays. The welcome and the warmth of the treatment facility was outstanding. If we arrived early, we were given warm blankets, reclining chairs, snacks and the whole nine yards. We were provided a space to relax and sleep as we waited my time in the chair.

The treatments lasted for seven to 12 hours each session. I am still thankful to my beloved Dora for sitting through the process week after week, month after month. We spent so much time there, that we earned free accommodations in the hospital owned apartments. But we never accepted the offer. Content to come and go. In retrospect, I think it was just that I couldn’t see myself spending that much time away from home. It wasn’t like vacation. I wanted to be in my own house, enjoying what I had grown accustomed to in my many years.

This back and forth went on for months. We spent Tuesday boarding a plane to leave and Fridays boarding a plane to return. Finally after a complete review of my progress and treatment, it was decided that we needed to changes course, just a little. My scans showed that despites these multiple trips, my lymph nodes had increased in size and number, particularly in my chest.

We waited for few months before a clear course was charted. We learned that the new medication that would be part of my treatment course was still in development and we had no indication of when it would be available.

The time continued and we continued waiting, calls unanswered, for a new course to be charted.