A Quiet Sunday

¿Cómo están todos? Bien, I hope. :) It's been a pretty quiet Sunday here, except for one verrrrrry exciting event this morning......drum roll, please!! My doctor told me yesterday that I could walk to the other floors in the evening to get some exercise, so I asked him if I could walk outside to see my dogs if someone brought them to the front of the hospital for me. Anyway, yesterday he said he knew I would ask that, but he thought it wasn't a good idea....this morning though he said as an early X-mas present, I was allowed to do just that!!! So around 11 or so, Ronnie and Kathy brought Jamie and Guinny over, I donned my mask and gloves, some real shoes (as opposed to my usual slippers) and walked outside for the first time in just over two weeks! They were excited, as was I, and we hung out in the little gazebo for a long time. I have lots of pictures, but you'll have to wait with baited breath 'til Katie comes home next time so she can upload them. :)
We were sitting out there with another patient from my floor (a young guy, maybe in his 40s) who I didn't know, but he really enjoyed seeing the dogs and talking to us. He is also an oncology patient, and he is all alone in the area. Although it's probably not a good idea for me to be going around visiting people, my mom asked the nurses if they thought it would be OK if she visited him, and they thought it was a great idea. It got me to thinking again how incredibly lucky I am, because I can't imagine going through this alone. I hope I see him out in the hall sometime to say hello again. We mentioned pet therapy to the nurses, and they thought it would be a good idea for him. I was so relieved Jameson didn't bark at him! Usually he barks at any man (why?--I don't know! He's a mama's boy!), but he went right over to the patient and let him pet him. Dogs just have a sense when something's wrong and when someone needs to be comforted, I am totally and completely convinced of this. Thinking of this patient sitting alone in his room really upsets me, and I hope my mom does get the chance to visit him. It might sound strange, but it feels good to shed some tears for someone else, to help take the focus off myself. I hope somehow we can make a difference in this man's life, whether it be saying hi in the hall, a visit from my mom, or referring him to pet therapy. So here's time for some more "deep thoughts with Julie": after my first diagnosis of leukemia, I often thought about what kind of legacy I would want to leave whenever I die, whether I'm young or old. Morbid-sounding, yes, but as I've written before, the thought of death enters your mind much more often after such a serious illness. I of course thought, "well, I hope I'm really old when it happens!; I hope I will have spent many years with a man I was totally in love with; I hope I raised and spent lots of time having fun with my children (at least 3) :); I hope I was able to be there for my friends and family, and that we enjoyed every moment we could; I hope everyone knew how much I loved them; I hope I worked hard at a job that allowed me to help others in some way (I'm still trying to figure out what that job is!)." Then I really thought about it harder, and I realized that although all of these wishes would be ideal, what is most important is that I do my best in life to bring some joy to the lives of others...whatever else I accomplish can be considered a plus. You automatically bring yourself joy by doing that, and I figured out that it was a pretty easy goal to accomplish. God, I sound sooooo totally cheesy and Pollyana-ish, but I'm just baring my soul to you anyway, so I figured I'd put it out there! Anyway, I guess it's this whole line of thinking that has me thinking so much about this other patient.
OK, enough over-the-top preaching. :) I have another cool (and funny!) story from this morning. I was half-awake at 7:30 or so, and I noticed a new blanket was at the foot of my bed covering my feet...."hmmmm", I thought...."Where did that come from? I know I'm taking Ativan, but it doesn't make me crazy or anything! Who put this blanket here?" I asked my nurse when she came in, but she didn't know. I called my mom, and she didn't know either. I figured there was some blanket-giving ghost out there. Then one of my favorite nursing assistants came in and asked if I liked my surprise. She made me a beautiful, cheery blanket! It's fleece, with very summery colors, and she sewed on a red sash (I don't know the technical sewing term for it :) ) at the top. A couple days ago she told me my brown blanket didn't match my happy, colorful room, so she decided to fix that. I was really touched. I'll put pics up so you can see it (again, you'll have to wait for Katie to come home!).
Let's see...what else. my scalp is still itchy and red and annnnnnoying, but I'm doing my best not to scratch it. I have 11 laps left to go today, so I think I might do that before some friends come over to watch a movie.
Hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!