Homeward bound

Thirteen days.

I've spent almost half a month in the hospital.

It was still September when I shuffled into Emergency, all hunched over and in pain. Little did I know my life was about to change, probably forever. This whole experience is a complication from my cancer, the first one.

Up until now I've only treated the disease by undergoing chemotherapy or taking clinical trial drugs and suffering the side effects of these treatments. But this is the first time another organ or system was seriously affected and needed attention. It wasn't a simple, benign complication, but a life-threatening one. The transition from only needing to treat the disease to experiencing other medical problems because of the disease frightens me.

But as my doctor said yesterday, we'll take each one and deal with it as it comes. That's good advice because I could get overwhelmed and panic if I think about it too much.

So today, I celebrate going home - to my family, my home, my bed. I'm sure I'll progress a lot quicker down the road to recovery in my comfortable home environment.

Thank you to everyone who visited me in the hospital. Your cheery smiles and distracting conversation made it easier to tolerate this place. I also want to say thanks for the flowers, cards, photos, gifts and phone calls. It's nice to feel loved.

I'm a lucky woman, who gets to go home today.

Tina