Written Jun 26, 2012 8:52pm by Renee Albracht
From one extreme to the other today!
I sat through my first meeting of the day saying nothing and thinking only of the trials ahead. Immediately after that meeting, I had to go conduct four half hour sessions with parents of incoming freshman for orientation. There is no time to sulk during these sessions. These parents are sending their babies off into the world without them. They need me to tell them they will be safe and why. It's kind of the same way my parents needed to hear and see from coworkers, friends, and church family that I would be okay when they left town.
However, this is where I shine. Orientation is my baby and I missed most of it because of this cancer thing creeping up on me. I got to attend the last session and even though I have not done this in a year and without any preparation, I gave what those parents needed. They, too, gave me what I needed. I was in my element. This is what I do. This is what I'm good at! After these sessions, I was feeling alive and well once again.
The day continued to get better. I had a little hiccup at lunch and snapped at my best friend, but I apologized and he thought nothing of it.
My parents and Morgan came to pick me up early and my mom and I went to get our massages. I had a male masseuse for the first time. He was much more thorough than the women in that he told me exactly what he was going to do and worked on my tense areas (my legs) more.
It was a wonderful massage. Unfortunately, it may be my last for a while. He told me to ask my doctor about it. Most doctors do not like their patients getting massages during chemo. Massages force out the toxins in your body. Massages may also force out the chemo meds prematurely. He was a good man for telling me so.
I was afraid the massage may hurt my port since I have not laid on my stomach since I got it. I told him about it and he avoided my upper chest and upper back. The work he did on the rest of my back still put pressure on my chest, but it felt too good to ask him to stop. My chest feels fine now!
After the massage, we went to a place called Nothing Bunt Cakes, a store my friend, Shannon manages.
We bought a variety of little bunt cakes and tried them all earlier tonight. Boy, they were all good! From what I understand, these stores are in several areas across the country. I recommend googling the store and finding one near you. Yummy!
Then, we went to go see my friend, Mickey's, studio. Morgan really enjoyed that. Mickey produces Jason Aldean, among others, and Morgan really likes him. It was neat for her to see a real Nashville studio. I have seen the studio before, but I didn't know how much he did--write, play, sing, produce, engineer. I love him like a brother. I'm proud of him.
After we got home and ate dinner, Mike got a text from my boss, Terry. Granted, he is already bald on top, but he shaved the rest of his head in support of me! Wow! Then, I heard a coworker, TK, shaved his head. I had another coworker send me a picture. Wow again!
Time to shave Mike's and my dad's heads! We went outside and they both wanted me to shave their heads. I was reluctant at first, but quickly got into it. We all laughed so much. I needed that. (I added photos to this site.)
At first, I didn't see the point in the guys doing this. I knew it was out of love, but they could love me without doing this! But, seeing their bald heads and sharing that experience of shaving it brought me some peace. Maybe tomorrow won't be so bad after all!
I sat through my first meeting of the day saying nothing and thinking only of the trials ahead. Immediately after that meeting, I had to go conduct four half hour sessions with parents of incoming freshman for orientation. There is no time to sulk during these sessions. These parents are sending their babies off into the world without them. They need me to tell them they will be safe and why. It's kind of the same way my parents needed to hear and see from coworkers, friends, and church family that I would be okay when they left town.
However, this is where I shine. Orientation is my baby and I missed most of it because of this cancer thing creeping up on me. I got to attend the last session and even though I have not done this in a year and without any preparation, I gave what those parents needed. They, too, gave me what I needed. I was in my element. This is what I do. This is what I'm good at! After these sessions, I was feeling alive and well once again.
The day continued to get better. I had a little hiccup at lunch and snapped at my best friend, but I apologized and he thought nothing of it.
My parents and Morgan came to pick me up early and my mom and I went to get our massages. I had a male masseuse for the first time. He was much more thorough than the women in that he told me exactly what he was going to do and worked on my tense areas (my legs) more.
It was a wonderful massage. Unfortunately, it may be my last for a while. He told me to ask my doctor about it. Most doctors do not like their patients getting massages during chemo. Massages force out the toxins in your body. Massages may also force out the chemo meds prematurely. He was a good man for telling me so.
I was afraid the massage may hurt my port since I have not laid on my stomach since I got it. I told him about it and he avoided my upper chest and upper back. The work he did on the rest of my back still put pressure on my chest, but it felt too good to ask him to stop. My chest feels fine now!
After the massage, we went to a place called Nothing Bunt Cakes, a store my friend, Shannon manages.
We bought a variety of little bunt cakes and tried them all earlier tonight. Boy, they were all good! From what I understand, these stores are in several areas across the country. I recommend googling the store and finding one near you. Yummy!
Then, we went to go see my friend, Mickey's, studio. Morgan really enjoyed that. Mickey produces Jason Aldean, among others, and Morgan really likes him. It was neat for her to see a real Nashville studio. I have seen the studio before, but I didn't know how much he did--write, play, sing, produce, engineer. I love him like a brother. I'm proud of him.
After we got home and ate dinner, Mike got a text from my boss, Terry. Granted, he is already bald on top, but he shaved the rest of his head in support of me! Wow! Then, I heard a coworker, TK, shaved his head. I had another coworker send me a picture. Wow again!
Time to shave Mike's and my dad's heads! We went outside and they both wanted me to shave their heads. I was reluctant at first, but quickly got into it. We all laughed so much. I needed that. (I added photos to this site.)
At first, I didn't see the point in the guys doing this. I knew it was out of love, but they could love me without doing this! But, seeing their bald heads and sharing that experience of shaving it brought me some peace. Maybe tomorrow won't be so bad after all!
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| Me shaving Dad's head. |
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| Me shaving Mike's head. |
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| Mike and Dad after shaving their heads. |
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| Tori cut her hair. |
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| Brother-in-law Jon and his workers Jorge and Jeremy. |
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| Step-dad Tony. |
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