Celebrating the Small Things in Life

Wednesday, October 18

I returned to the Stem Cell Unit at 9:30 a.m. today to have my dialysis line removed. As I walked into the Unit, the nurse handed me a copy of the stem cell collection report from Ottawa. It showed that yesterday they collected 14.1 million stem cells in 90 minutes. We only need 2.5 million. I'm a stem cell producing machine! So I went into the patient room and had to lay on the bed. I was hooked up to the blood pressure monitor so they could read my vitals while the dialysis line was removed. Everything went smoothly. After it was removed and the nurse held pressure on the opening into the vein in my neck for 15 minutes, she put a dressing over the opening and I had to lie quiet for another 15 minutes. Then I was instructed to go for a long walk. After the walk, I was to return and check in with the nurse before leaving the hospital. They just wanted to make sure there was no bleeding and leakage.

So I walked to the Tuck Shop and visited with my former co-workers and volunteers. I was happy to see one of the volunteers as she is moving away in the coming week. I then walked over to another office and visited with friends and acquaintances there. Hubby was with me and kept checking my neck to make sure it wasn't bleeding. We then walked  briskly down the long hallway on our way back to the Stem Cell Unit. But first, I dropped into the Gift Shop to visit former co-workers and volunteers again. Hubby and I met a new employee that we actually knew from another part of our lives. We visited with her also and then continued to make our way back to the Unit. I was given permission to go home.

Hubby and I went for lunch at our favourite restaurant and then he dropped me off at home and returned to work. I spent a quiet afternoon knitting because I was not allowed to move turn my head or bend down. When hubby got home from work, we made our way to our friends' home where we had been invited for dinner. It became an evening of celebration. We celebrated that my stem cells were prolific and were collected quickly. I have an extra day of "found time" tomorrow. What a great evening we had with our friends!  When we left at 9:30 p.m., I was tired and went straight to bed as soon as I returned home.

Thursday, October 19

I was very tired when I awoke with the alarm at 7:00 a.m. Before hubby went to work, he did help carry laundry to the basement so I could wash a load and he carried it outside so I could hang it on the line. It took me a few hours to gain any motivation to do anything but knit.

Then I decided to get started on my Christmas baking. I really want to have a few of my family's favourite Christmas baked goods in the freezer for us to enjoy at Christmas. So this morning, I made my sugar cookies. This is a recipe that has been handed down from my great-grandmother. I roll them out, cut them with cookies cutters and then when they are fulliy cooled, I ice them with butter icing. The dough is very soft and pliable but it needs to be chilled before rolling it out. The shapes are Christmas trees, Santas, Angels, Bells, Snowmen and Stars. While the cookies were cooling on the counter, I decided to take stock of the icing ingredients. I realized that I needed green and red food colouring as well as icing sugar in order to ice the cookies. That's alright. Hubby and I will be doing some grocery shopping afer dinner tonight.

I am feeling so content. This week is going really well and I am feeling good. I do notice that when I'm not eating or drinking anything, my mouth has a bothersome taste to it. It doesn't matter if I brush my teeth or rinse my mouth. It is there. This "off" taste doesn't affect the taste of food or drink so it isn't affecting my appetite. Food tastes good when I eat.

I spent my afternoon continuing to knit the second sock of the pair of mismatched socks. They are mismatched because I ran out of yarn and have had to use a different yarn for the second sock. This pair will be for me. The last couple of days I've been re-thinking my plan to give knitted socks to the homeless. These socks are very thick and are more like slipper socks. I'm not sure they would fit inside people's shoes unless they are wearing shoes that are much too big for them. I am now considering donating the socks to the Hospital Auxiliary for their bazaar that is going to be held on November 29. I approached the Auxiliary and they would be very pleased to have the socks to sell. The bazaar is a fundraiser for the Hospital Auxiliary. The Auxiliary helps buy needed equipment for various departments within the hospital. I think I am at peace with giving the pairs of knitted socks to their bazaar. If I get more socks knitted after November 29, then I will give them to the Kingston Street Mission to be given to the homeless.

In the days that I have left before being admitted to the hospital on October 25, I am hoping to add to my Christmas baking. I plan to make my Bourbon Christmas Fruit Bars. All my Christmas baking will be put into the freezer and then it will be nice and fresh when it comes out. I need to buy some of the ingredients for the fruit bars. The other baking I want to do is my Christmas M&M Cookies. Unfortunately, the Christmas M&M's are not available for sale in the stores yet. I haven't seen any. I will probably have to wait until I'm discharged from the hospital in the middle to end of November before making these. I really want this Christmas to be "normal" and create more warm memories for my family. For me, it is important to have the favourite baked treats available. I want my family to have cherished moments that will become cherished memories.

As I baked the sugar cookies today, I enjoyed the memories of having sugar cookies at my grandparents' home during the Christmas holidays. The cookies were always put out as a snack while we played cards or crokinole. I remember watching my grandpa and my uncle playing crokinole together. I remember us all around the long kitchen table playing cards with cookies, squares and nuts on the table to be shared as snacks. The warmth of the wood stove in farm house is another great memory to the point that I can almost smell the wood. The heat radiated from it and was very comforting. My own memories motivate me to bake and earnestly work towards creating happy, warm family moments for my own family. My hope is to succeed at this despite the current and imminent challenge of my cancer journey.