The morning I received the diagnosis, I asked about two events I had planned. One was a trip to Chicago April 13-17 to be a visiting poet at Joliet Junior College, where I used to teach, and to have a “book release party” at my brother’s house in Chicago. The second was to speak at a conference in mid-June at St. Mary’s Notre Dame. The doctor said not to cancel and we’d see how the side effects go. Then he stressed the desire for me to live as normally as possible during the treatment.
Well, I haven’t lived that normally, but it’s been pretty good. I know the routine: treatment on Tuesday, “pretreat-fueled” energy on Wednesday, a slowdown on Thursday afternoon and on the couch mostly on Friday. By Saturday I go into work again for a few hours, get some exercise in, and Sunday and Monday are mostly normal. Repeat.
My white blood cell count (WBC) is struggling, so I did have an off week, which actually worked to my advantage for the Chicago trip. I had a week of no treatment, two “easy” weeks, and just today am back for the beginning of Round 3, the Carboplatin and Taxol, a week with probably more fatigue.
Also for my white blood cells, I did a round of Granix (5 daily shots) which drove my WBC up from 0.7 to 10.0 before travel. I still took no chances, traveled with a mask, gloves, and a decontamination kit to wipe down my seat and the seats around me. Travel was fine.
And I felt great! Whisked off to Frankfort with my parents and their park-like home. I left brown Minnesota and arrived where the grass had already been mowed twice and the birds had all made it to the feeder out back. Trees in bloom and ephemerals all up.
My niece joined us for Wednesday and she and I went out to a nearby field to fly her drone. Sadly, no footage was recorded, even when it landed on someone’s roof and we had to enlist the home-owner to help us get it down. After she beat me at two games of Battleship (including one solid pod of ships I should have figured out earlier), I took my daily nap. My brother came for dinner and it was nice just to visit and reassure e
veryone that, really, I’m doing fine.
Poetry day at JJC I also had good energy and was able to do two classes, lunch, and a reading. There was another poet, the fantastic Pamela Miller of Chicago, who helped share the load. It was so nice to be in a classroom and see old colleagues. The biggest surprise and treat was seeing Michael Hainzinger, a new faculty member in the department. He was my student back in 2000, in my Nonwestern Literature in Translation course. That year Nobel prize-winning Nigerian playwright Wole Soyinka spoke at the Field Museum and Mike was the one student who wanted to go. We rode together and he had us wait afterward so he could get his program signed. Seldom have I had a student that enthusiastic. He went on to teach English in Taiwan and now teaches ESL at the college. (I love to visit schools and colleges, and I’m very good with students, so if you can bring me somewhere in fall/winter 2016 or 2017: susanmsink@gmail.com.)
But the real event, the major event, was the book release party in Chicago. I had bought two dresses for this trip, and wore the bold one (albeit with a bolero sweater) for the party. I also wore a layered turban/scarf ensemble. I’d gone with the more modest dress and the wig to Joliet, which was kind of a day off from “cancer girl.” The wig is a nice break and does add normalcy.
The party was at my brother’s house in Chicago, and what I thought would be about 12-15 people turned to 35-40 post-diagnosis. Friends came from as far as Madison, Wisconsin. My first best friend Marla was there from the south suburbs. Grinnell alumni/ae showed up in force (truth be told, they would have come without the cancer). A childhood friend who lives in Annapolis and travels a lot arranged to be there and visit her parents at the same time. Two college roommates. A guy I’d never met who is a Facebook friend and has multiple mutual friends. Writer friends. Good friends from when I lived in Chicago. Two JJC creative writing alums/former students. My sister-in-law’s parents from the burbs. Lots and lots of hugs.
Grinnell group!
It was a grand, grand party. I loved reading to such a receptive crowd, including some who didn’t know they liked poetry (always a plus to win over new converts).
with Sarah Jolie, signing books
It was very, very good to have something like this to look forward to. I recommend not canceling plans during chemo, just getting a plan in place. We already have a good plan in place for June.
Lots of thanks go out to my mom, who threw a great party and took care of me marvelously, chopping veggies and making one of my favorite meals, chicken cacciatore.
And, hey, H is for Harry is a great book of poems. Even if you aren’t particularly sold on poetry– really, it is not hard. The best way (for me) is to order it directly from my books page. It is well worth your $15.90 with shipping.
I’m happy to autograph (to you or send me a request with name: susanmsink@gmail.com.
Susan,
I am thrilled to read that you are “out and about” and the pictures are great. You remind me of a colleague of mine here at Cathedral High School. She is a fabulous math teacher and an even better person. She was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer over Christmas and has been going through treatments. But most of the time she shows up here and teaches in hat, gloves, and mask. She is quite a role model for these students.
I am the one who wrote earlier saying I had registered for the conference at Saint Mary’s. I am continuing to hope you will be well enough to come. I am very excited about your books on the symbolism of the St. John’s Bible. I knew when I discovered your work that I would have to share it with my students in theology classes. And I couldn’t wait till fall, after the conference when I would know more to share with them. I scanned 5 pictures (from the 2013 datebook God found for me at a garage sale) into my computer and had them work on the symbolism before I gave them the hints you included in your books. Then last Friday I had them create their own illuminated pages using crayons (the best I could do for 110 students without paint, and markers seemed too “processed”). One funny thing – we were using my crayons from childhood I have kept in my closet in an old tin. We were laughing about the “old names” for the colors and how awful some were. One girl found the “flesh” one!! So we had a social justice lesson, too. I’m saving it to show students in the future – they can’t believe how naive we were in the ’50’s.
Susan
Thankful for a Great Trip and good Book signing.
It looks and sounds like Everything I Prayed for you.
MORE TO COME…… !!! AMEN.
That’s a great story! I remember those “flesh” crayons from the ’70s. Hopefully Crayola has become more diverse! I am definitely coming to St. Mary’s in June. They’ve been wonderfully understanding and accommodating. I have my tickets– can you believe there are direct daily flights from Minneapolis to South Bend?? I was going to make the trip so much more difficult! Looking forward to it and meeting you in person. You might want to check out the materials from “Seeing the Word” on the Bible website for quality reproductions for your classes. Or send an e-mail to Tim Ternes (tternes@csbsju.edu) the director of the project for good slides.
I wore one of the scarves you sent layered under the turban to the party! It looked great! Thank you!
Fabulous! So happy for you!