A Day in the (Cancer) Life Revisited -- a Regular Workday
Today is Friday. The last day of the work week. It's been a long week, but it seems to have gone by quickly. My normal day starts at 5:30am when my first alarm sounds. I snooze it once or twice, then either get up or wait until my 6:00am alarm sounds. I can't get up any later than that or I'll for sure be late for work. Shower, make-up, letting the dog out and back in, feeding the dog, making sure I remember my lunch and maybe a favorite coffee mug (not to mention my teeth; I've forgotten them twice 😂). By 7:05, I am hopefully on the road. I work only about ten minutes from my house, and I don't have to be at work until 7:40am, but I like to get there early for a few reasons. It ensures that I get a handicapped spot, which I need for the access aisle. It's difficult to get the walker in and out of the van in a regular spot. Also, it gets me up to my classroom before the hundreds of students arrive. This means less exposure to germs. Even if I didn't have those reasons, I would still try to get to work a few minutes early. I like to sit at my desk in the quiet and knit for a few minutes, as I hear the hall filling up with other staff members. It's nice to sit and rest for a few minutes before the day starts.
I work in a high school, so as the students start arriving, I have hallway duty. I sit in my walker seat at the corner of the hallway every morning, greeting the students. Then the bell rings, and it's class time. Today is an A day, which means I have a first block class. Our school follows a block schedule. They go to four of their classes on A days, and the other four on B days. It seems to work well. We also have a one hour lunch, when there are no classes. Students are expected to take 30 minutes to enjoy lunch, and the other thirty minutes to seek out tutoring, make up tests/quizzes, turn in make-up work, attend a club meeting. So I spend my day working with students, chatting with coworkers, and hopefully finding a few minutes during my half hour lunch to knit a few stitches.
11:00am -- lunchtime. I'm suddenly not feeling very well. It's the feeling of sickness I have when I'm overtired. This usually doesn't happen until later in the evening. It's probably because it's Friday, and I've stayed pretty busy all week. So, I'll rest a bit before I eat my lunch, and hopefully that will take care of it until I can get home and climb in to bed.
12:00noon -- tutoring time/lunchtime is over. I feel a little recharged and ready to face the rest of the work day, which consists of one group of students, then planning time. Let the afternoon begin.
2:50pm -- dismissal time. The kids are happily going to their buses as I type this. The afternoon went well, except that I felt a bit nauseous during third block. I'm really looking forward to getting home and climbing into bed. Today is Friday, though, and I've started walking after work with two co-workers. I'm going to try to get a few laps in before I drop.
That's my typical work day. Sounds boring, doesn't it? It's not, really. The interaction with coworkers and students -- we always seem to find something to laugh about. There are variations in the days, too. The day I described above is an A day. On B days, I spend one block in a 10th grade English class. Yesterday, their warm-up was to, after reading the quote by Ice Cube, "I think, to me, reality is better than being fake", write about if they thought it was ever okay to be fake. The overwhelming response was, that no, it's never okay to be fake. As I walked around listening to the discussions, I stopped at a table and said that some people might think I'm being fake because sometimes I walk without my walker; I can walk a few steps without it. (I walk around the classroom without it because there's always something I can grab on to if I start to lose my balance). One student told me that, no, that's not fake. That's me trying something new. That really made my day.
Another variation to the work day is on Tuesdays. A teacher friend and I host the Crochet/Knitting Club. On Tuesdays, during the second half of NEST (lunchtime), students can come in and learn how to crochet, knit, or both. It's very rewarding.
5:00pm -- I lasted only about 15 minutes walking today. Normally I would be able to do more. Nausea set in again after about the 4th lap. The good news is I got my 3500 steps in today. Yes! I had noticed a few weeks ago that I had been averaging 3000 steps per day, so I set that as my daily goal, striving to get 3000 per day. When I was doing well with that, I upped it to 3500. Soon, I hope to up it even more. I really think it will be a good thing for me.
So, I headed home. Let the dog out, gave him a treat, changed into pajamas, climbed into bed. I typically don't get into bed until at least 7. I usually try to make it to at least 8. Some days, though, like today, there's no way. I am completely and totally exhuasted. I'll rest and probably drift off until 7 when my alarm will rouse me to take my medicine. I'll eat dinner then, if Jimmy feels up to making something. Sometimes neither of us do.
That, my friends, if life with a terminal illness.
I work in a high school, so as the students start arriving, I have hallway duty. I sit in my walker seat at the corner of the hallway every morning, greeting the students. Then the bell rings, and it's class time. Today is an A day, which means I have a first block class. Our school follows a block schedule. They go to four of their classes on A days, and the other four on B days. It seems to work well. We also have a one hour lunch, when there are no classes. Students are expected to take 30 minutes to enjoy lunch, and the other thirty minutes to seek out tutoring, make up tests/quizzes, turn in make-up work, attend a club meeting. So I spend my day working with students, chatting with coworkers, and hopefully finding a few minutes during my half hour lunch to knit a few stitches.
11:00am -- lunchtime. I'm suddenly not feeling very well. It's the feeling of sickness I have when I'm overtired. This usually doesn't happen until later in the evening. It's probably because it's Friday, and I've stayed pretty busy all week. So, I'll rest a bit before I eat my lunch, and hopefully that will take care of it until I can get home and climb in to bed.
12:00noon -- tutoring time/lunchtime is over. I feel a little recharged and ready to face the rest of the work day, which consists of one group of students, then planning time. Let the afternoon begin.
2:50pm -- dismissal time. The kids are happily going to their buses as I type this. The afternoon went well, except that I felt a bit nauseous during third block. I'm really looking forward to getting home and climbing into bed. Today is Friday, though, and I've started walking after work with two co-workers. I'm going to try to get a few laps in before I drop.
That's my typical work day. Sounds boring, doesn't it? It's not, really. The interaction with coworkers and students -- we always seem to find something to laugh about. There are variations in the days, too. The day I described above is an A day. On B days, I spend one block in a 10th grade English class. Yesterday, their warm-up was to, after reading the quote by Ice Cube, "I think, to me, reality is better than being fake", write about if they thought it was ever okay to be fake. The overwhelming response was, that no, it's never okay to be fake. As I walked around listening to the discussions, I stopped at a table and said that some people might think I'm being fake because sometimes I walk without my walker; I can walk a few steps without it. (I walk around the classroom without it because there's always something I can grab on to if I start to lose my balance). One student told me that, no, that's not fake. That's me trying something new. That really made my day.
Another variation to the work day is on Tuesdays. A teacher friend and I host the Crochet/Knitting Club. On Tuesdays, during the second half of NEST (lunchtime), students can come in and learn how to crochet, knit, or both. It's very rewarding.
5:00pm -- I lasted only about 15 minutes walking today. Normally I would be able to do more. Nausea set in again after about the 4th lap. The good news is I got my 3500 steps in today. Yes! I had noticed a few weeks ago that I had been averaging 3000 steps per day, so I set that as my daily goal, striving to get 3000 per day. When I was doing well with that, I upped it to 3500. Soon, I hope to up it even more. I really think it will be a good thing for me.
So, I headed home. Let the dog out, gave him a treat, changed into pajamas, climbed into bed. I typically don't get into bed until at least 7. I usually try to make it to at least 8. Some days, though, like today, there's no way. I am completely and totally exhuasted. I'll rest and probably drift off until 7 when my alarm will rouse me to take my medicine. I'll eat dinner then, if Jimmy feels up to making something. Sometimes neither of us do.
That, my friends, if life with a terminal illness.
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