Chemo Eve

It is the day before the big day. Tomorrow Jennifer will be starting her second round of chemotherapy. And so, it is an evening of preparation.

For the last several months, I have been doing most of the bathing for the girls. When I am out for work or something, Jen would fill in. But, for the most part, it has been my job for a while now. This week Jennifer is bathing the kids, trying to spend a lot of time playing games with them, and teaching them about drawing letters as well as other things. She is anxiously trying to get things done at work. She is planning out her health care in her head for the next several months, if not years. The floor is constantly being picked up. The tables are being cleared off. I try to keep up with her but I cannot. It is Chemo Eve, and her energy and anxiety are both in overdrive.


We have had several Chemo Eve nights in our home but tonight is different. Jennifer is beginning the Taxol phase of her therapy. That means chemicals once a week. The side-effects are supposed to be much less. However, when it comes to her health and her chemotherapy, Jennifer is a strong believer in Mr. Murphy and his laws. So, she fears she will again succumb to becoming a "chemo-zombie", that she will be unable to care for her family as she wishes. So tonight, and earlier this week, she is striving to do everything she can now that she might not be able to do later.

The bedroom floors are being cleaned. The clothes are being folded. Blog posts are being made in abundance. All preparations on the Eve of the Chemo.

And tomorrow we begin the new phase of the journey. A chemical treatment that is designed to be more like a series of body blows to cancer, as opposed to the haymaker roundhouse punches of the A-C Treatment. Jennifer is ready. But she is keeping busy making sure she is ready. It is the way of anxiety and chemical therapy for cancer. It is Chemo Eve.