Time Warp

"Time Warp" was a phrase my sister came up with, a little over a year ago, as a way to refer to our mother's cognitive loss and confusion when it came to people and dates and times and places.

I've decided to borrow the phrase since some of my recent experiences seem time warped...in a different way from my mother's. Hopefully I can get the words right to explain it well. Here goes.

To recap, there are some key dates that stand out for me this summer:
May 9 - first appt w/family practice doc about lump on my jaw/neck
May 14 - CT scan finds enlarged lymph node

May 24 - first appt w/ENT
June 10 - surgery to remove enlarged lymph node for biopsy
June 14 - biopsy results & NHL diagnosis

June 20- first appt w/C-Dr
July 22 - treatment plan determined

July 29/30 - first chemo cycle

August 26/27 - second chemo cycle

The three week period from May 24 to June 14 went by extremely fast. Way too fast. Many medical appointments and procedures were being done with a lot happening, but mostly a lot of new information needing to be absorbed into my overwhelmed brain. My world was a whirl.

The four weeks from June 20 to July 22? Oh my, a very different story. T-i-m-e  s-e-e-m-e-d  t-o  d-r-a-g  o-n  F-O-R-E-V-E-R!!! With the NHL diagnosis I was anxious to learn what the future held for me and if, or what, my treatment plan would be. Patience was not my virtue then. So many procedures and tests to determine that outcome. Keeping my schedule open so to not interfere with the soonest some appointment or procedure could be set. Utilizing medical facilities from one end of the valley to the other in order to stay within my insurance's approved facilities and also meet that soonest appointment thing. Unexpected procedures that popped up and delayed what I was wanting to know--although they were necessary to determine and get to the place about what I wanted to know. So busy, yet time seemed to not move. At all. And then, finally, on Monday, July 22, BAM! a treatment plan was set with chemo infusions starting the very next week. Wow. Finally, what seemed like the forever month that would never end, came to an end.

The next four weeks? From July 29/30 to August 26/27?
Between chemo cycle #1 and chemo cycle#2?
Neverhavefourweeksflownbysofast. Did you get that?

If the next several months go like the past month did (and as well), I'll be a very happy camper.

which is better than the alternative

We'll see. Only time will tell.

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