Dance party in 477

First of all, I just have to tell you how I'm addicted to an 80s song Laurel and Terry put on a CD for me...."Always" by Erasure. For whatever reason, it has me feelin' like I want to dance around, but I'm trying to get stuff done on the computer, so I've relegated the dancing to a little hospital bed shoulder shimmying and head bopping. Laura says I'm a great dancer. She especially likes it when I start to sing along....ok, the truth is that she actually asked me who the artist was, and I didn't know at the time, but apparently her quick response would have been "Let's leave it to them then"....hahahaha Oops the song stopped again, I have to repeat it...no wonder Laura's getting ready to leave. I'll wait 'til after she leaves to do the REAL dancing! I just hope my nurse doesn't walk in while I'm pulling out all my cool moves (and if you've seen me dance, you know I've got some moves! :) Just ask to see Maya and Brant's wedding photos or Lori's wedding video!) I'll offer dance lessons once the transplant is over and I'm healthy and ready to shake it.
Anyway, as you can sense from this entry, today is a good day. :) I've already done twenty laps!! WOOHOO!! Thanks, Pete and Laura! I also met with one of the reverends from my dad's church, and I really enjoyed talking to him. But Laura laughed at me after he left 'cause when he said a prayer, apparently I kept saying "amen" at the wrong times. Oh well, whatever gets us a laugh, even if it's inappropriate! :) Several people from my dad's church have stopped by, reverends as well as members of the church, and I've enjoyed getting the chance to chat with all of them.
If you've seen Laura's e-mail, you already know that I'm probably leaving here on Saturday to go home, and then sometime next week I'll head up to Boston (in my Yankees jersey and hat) to have an appointment with a doctor up there. I don't know if my dad and brother also plan on heading out to Seattle--we're just figuring things out as we go, but it sounds like I'll have a couple weeks at home before heading to wherever I'm heading for the transplant. It'll be nice to be home, and lots of you have said you'll come visit, so I'm looking forward to that! ..............................................................................
Whew! I'm all tuckered out now (Lori, another of your favorite words)!! Laura and I just had a full-blown dance party in Room 477. And yup, we danced to the same song over and over! Thanks, Laurel and Terry!!! We did a photo shoot of the dancin' so Laura will put that on the blog sometime tonight or tomorrow, along with the dog pics, some pics I took of the room and a beautiful double rainbow that Susan noticed outside my window! I know you can't wait to see all of them. :) Unfortunately, no nurses walked in during the dance party--it actually would have made it even more fun!!! :) This is your homework assignment after reading this blog: download "Always" by Erasure and dance around to it! You'll find it's quite addictive!! :)
Music can have such a powerful effect on our mood and emotions.
I was going to tell you all about my day yesterday 'cause I had some annoying things I had to get off my chest, but after dancing, everything seems so trivial! :) I just woke up feeling a little nauseous and blah, I cut my knuckle on the shower door, and it turned into a bloody (literally, not as in the British swear word) little mess...not that it was bleeding everywhere, but it just wouldn't stop bleeding, so that was annoying until I was able to get dressed and ask my nurse for a band-aid, so really it was no big deal at all, but since I felt blah, it felt like a big deal. I wanted to do my hair even though I felt yucky, so I sat down to dry it, and I actually pulled the chair over to the mirror to curl it. You're probably thinking, "Julie! You're in the hospital--no need to look especially nice!", but it makes me feel better. I'm not planning on searching for a date in the hospital :) , but I feel better about myself and I feel like I have more energy when I can fix my hair (plus I have to enjoy it while it lasts, right?!) Although I did joke with a friend that I should go on match.com in between now and my transplant to see if I can have a date before heading off to wherever I'm going! :) I'll just have to put in my info that although he can't get close to me, I can be a lot of fun to hang out with! :) hahahahaha Nah, I'll have to save the dating 'til a long time from now which makes me sad. Again, why am I so concerned about dating? But I worry about it. I mean, I'm 30 so my options already feel limited, but it will take a while for my hair to grow back (I know, I can use wigs :) ), and it will take a long time until I feel like myself again. It feels good to worry about something that is not medical though. :) Somehow I'll find a date once this crap is over! (have you noticed that "crap" and "suck" are my favorite words of late?) :) I'm looking forward to when I can go to "Murphy's" and sing along to some Irish songs while enjoying cider....not that I'll find a date there, but you never know. :)
After getting blood yesterday, I felt much better, and I did my laps (although I didn't start 'til around 5 PM). I walked outside my room in one of my cool outfits--pink knee socks, pink and white capris, and my cool "This is my cancer fighting shirt". The wife of the patient next door smiled and said "You brighten things!". :) So even though fashion gurus may think I'm silly and goofy looking, I can bring some joy to others and it makes me smile. That's all that matters, right? When I was out walking, I ran into onc of the therapy dogs (who happened to be on her way to visit me), so we did a lap and then came back to my room to cuddle. While we did our lap, we ran into the patient (not literally :) )I wrote about the other day, the one who was outside when Jameson and Guinness came. Anyway, it sounds like he's getting pet therapy now so I was very happy to hear that! I also had a visit from a yellow lab earlier in the day. I was napping, but one of the nurses told the owner that I always wanted dog visitors so it was fine to enter. I sat up immediately, of course, and had a wonderful visit with him! Let's see...what else...I was disconnected from my pole buddy for most of my laps yesterday, and I passed one patient who was walking with his wife, and as I passed them (I pass everybody :) ), I said "hi". I heard him say to his wife "Do you think she's a patient or does she work here?" I couldn't help but smile when I heard that...glad I look well enough to be an employee! Guess walking around with a mask and gloves isn't enough to identify me as a patient 'cause the staff has to do that too. Anyway, it cracked me up.
Speaking of cracking up, Rachel brought a DVD of Jim Gaffigan the other day, and it is really funny. I highly recommend it: "Beyond the Pale" (Jim Gaffigan). Check it out and let me know what you think! And speaking of comedians, Katie's friend Jesse got me a cool book (autographed too!!) by Robert Schimmel called "Cancer on $5 a day, *chemo not included"...I haven't had the chance to read it, but I've looked over it and it looks really funny. It takes talent to make recounting your cancer experience as something funny!
OK, well I'm gonna go rest my tired dancin' legs. Laura, Tiso, my mom and dad have some surprise planned for tonight, and I want to be able to enjoy it and not feel exhausted. I'll let you know what the surprise is manana.
Hope everyone is doing well....don't forget to watch "My Boys" tonight on TBS!--9 PM, I love that show, and Jim Gaffigan is actually an actor in it.
Two more days and counting....I'll miss the routine I've created here (oddly enough), but I'll just keep creating new routines, and somehow I'll make it through everything. :)
Love ya.