I have some GREAT news: since Sunday, I've been feeling more like myself than I have since starting chemo!!! WOW. I am walking like crazy now; I don't have to lean on my IV pole and hold my Mom's arm! I spend most of the day in the Child Life room here on the floor, where the amazing Child Life Specialist, Megan, organizes lots of crafts and activities for us. I just finished a really cool decoupage/collage box:
Cool, right? :) Crafting is AMAZING therapy for me. It keeps me occupied and distracted, so it's great to pass the time. Also, there are some really cool people who volunteer in the child life room, so it's awesome to meet and talk to so many cool people! I especially love hanging out with the med students who volunteer there as part of a peds interest group. Seeing as I'm on the kids floor, (as much as I love the little ones) it's great to have people around my age to talk to and hang out with. Today, I also met two 11 or 12 year old girls who decided that instead of asking for birthday presents at their big birthday party with all of their friends, they would ask for craft supplies to donate to the child life room! They were absolutely adorable and I could not BELIEVE how selfless that choice was! I thanked them over and over and chatted with them about what it's like to live in the hospital ("Do you have a bed here?" "What food do you eat?") and about what it's like to have cancer. They were SO excited to come back again so they could do some crafts with us. It feels INCREDIBLE to finally be feeling well enough to walk around and have enough energy to hang out in the child life room all day to meet some great people!
MORE good news: after a month in the hospital, I GET TO GO HOME on Friday! YES! I am still VERY neutropenic, meaning that my immune system can't fight sicknesses. If I'm exposed to someone who has a cold or even just a little runny nose, I could get REALLY sick and my body wouldn't be able to get rid of the infection. Although I'm really excited to see my roommate Megan this weekend and hopefully some other friends while I'm home, visiting is still going to have to be very limited. The more people I'm exposed to, the bigger chance I have of catching something...even just germs from their clothes from a hug or something crazy like that. Thankfully, however, for the first time in over a month, I will be able to GO OUTSIDE and get some fresh, non-hospital air! That is definitely what I am MOST MOST MOST excited about!!!
As I was typing, I realized that today marks exactly one month since the day I got the phone call that I had leukemia. This past month is a blur of confusion, disbelief, and absolute craziness...but it has also been a rush of support and encouragement, strength and the will to fight, and lessons that I would never learn otherwise. Thank you for an entire month of love, thoughts, and prayers!!! You are all INCREDIBLE people who have given me strength. Thank you! <3
I will be blogging again soon with more pictures I haven't gotten on my computer yet and hopefully more good news...from home!! Keep up the fantastic thoughts and prayers as you always do, and I promise that whether I am on an "Up" like now, or a "Down" like last week, I will never, never stop fighting. I love you all and I'm keeping tough!!
Quick shout out to all my SLU peeps: GOOD LUCK WITH MIDTERMS!
<3,
Sarah
:)
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