Last Day of Treatment

Another restless night. Part of it was anticipation for today and making sure I didn't oversleep. Part of it was the loud sounds that came from the wall which were probably related to the heating unit. Jimmy did not sleep well either. I was awake by 5:15 and lay there until I had to get up at 5:40. I prefer to wake up before the alarm goes off then I am not startled from my sleep.

We took the 6:30 MSK shuttle to the hospital for Jim's 8:15 PET Scan. This is an important scan. It will show how well the immunotherapy is working to squash the B-cell lymphoma. What we want to hear is that the cancer is in remission enough to continue to the transplant phase. If that is the case then Jim will be admitted shortly and within 2 weeks will have the transplant. 

After Jim was taken back for the scan I walked down the street to the Catholic church. This is the church I have walked by many times and always wanted to go inside. This time I did. I sat in the second to last pew, put down the kneeler and prayed. Afterwards, I just sat in silence for about 30 minutes taking in the beauty of my surroundings. There must have been 6-7 people who came in to pray during my time there. Before I left I gave a donation and lit a candle. It's a Catholic thing. The candles are known as vigil lights. Mine was a votive candle. Lighting a candle is a way of extending one's prayer and showing solidarity with the person on whose behalf the prayer is offered.

Back at the waiting room a couple came in with a small boy. It was obvious he was the patient getting ready to have a procedure or test. The dad came in first with the boy and the mother appeared 10 minutes later. It's possible she was parking the car but I got the impression they were separated and she appeared very restless. The boy leaned against his dad the whole time and there was no communication between any of them. I am a people watcher. I always wonder what other people are going through. You can tell a lot from watching facial expressions and body language.

After the PET Scan we had time to kill before Jim's treatment.  He was hungry because you can't eat or drink after midnight the night before the scan and he wanted to visit his old go-to eateries, BagelWorks and Padoca. We decided to go to separate places and meet at Starbucks. Jim went to BagelWorks and ordered a whole wheat everything with veggie cream cheese and then a monkey babka, a coffee cake type Brazilian treat. I walked to the Verizon store and someone looked at my phone. He thought the problem was just a matter of upgrading the software. We'll see. After Verizon I went to Vegan Diva Bakery and bought two gluten free goodies. I met Jim at Starbucks. We sat at the counter facing the window, had coffee, ate our snacks and watched life walk by on 1st Avenue.

Treatment was uneventful luckily. Dr. Horwitz's PA came in to check on Jimmy's cold and how he was feeling. She is a tiny thing who looks about 25.


 During treatment I walked to the post office and CVS to pick up a refill for Jim. I texted back and forth with Jane and Laura. At the post office there was a lot of mail and even two magazines. There also was a box for Jim from Debby...goodies??? I saw my share of canines on the way back to the clinic. Can't wait until I get my camera fixed so I can take better pictures. Oh and I took a picture of my shadow.

After treatment was over we would have had to wait an hour and a half
to take the MSK shuttle back to the Hope Lodge. We decided to take the subway. Jim was tired and it was a lot quicker. What an experience. It was rush hour and we had to squeeze our way onboard when the train finally came. While waiting on the platform we saw a rat on the tracks.

The rest of the night we relaxed, packed, had dinner and watched the Iowa Republican Presidential Debates. Tomorrow Skye comes to visit...YEA! and we move back to the Upper East Side...YEA!

Jim and I both miss our boy but he is in good hands with Jane and John. Here is a picture of Boo (on the right) with his best friend JJ. They like to switch beds. JJ is in Boo's and Boo is in JJ's. Too Cute!