Shout outs!
In support of
The Gerber Family
View Support Registry
The Gerber Family
I echo Taylor’s previous update. Thank you all for every thought, prayer, and effort to reach out and connect. It means more than you know.
I have to give particular shout outs to my friends and coworkers!
My coworkers at Inova Alexandria are too kind and generous. Not only did they collect a large sum of money, but they gifted me a highly recommended cookbook, a jacket that makes my port (and arms) accessible for treatment, port covers for protection, a Rock the Treatment box (scroll through photos to see) full of thoughtful items to use during treatment, and a UGA headband that was featured during my 2nd round of chemo. My favorite item in the rock the treatment box is the mocktail jelly belly beans lol because I’m definitely alcohol free, but my sense of humor is still intact :)
And we have had 3 friends drop off dinners to us over the past week and a half and holy cow - you ladies can cook!!! Shout out to my PT and OT friends who could pivot and become home chefs. I would be grateful for the meals no matter what they tasted like, but wow they were good! And enjoyed by all - Taylor and Brady and I. It was also lovely to visit with you all, and now Brady want to come to your house to play and has invited himself over, haha!
Switching gears, I’ve been doing a lot of reflection these past few weeks, and I’ve had a revelation. I think the meaning of life, in the practical sense, is figuring out what’s for dinner :) If not the meaning of life, it certainly is a defining characteristic of adulthood. I’m half joking but half serious, hear me out - no matter what my health status has been, I am always thinking about what’s for dinner for my family. Brainstorming what to cook, what everyone’s preferences are, what’s most nutritious versus what will we actually want to eat, how long will it take to cook, do I have time to cook this week?/no time so its going to be a slow cooker meal, make list of ingredients to buy/check what we already have/check expiration dates, find time to go to the store, improvise when things are out of stock, plan ahead for meal prep timing or slow cooker start time, improvise if fresh ingredients are no longer fresh or expiration dates have passed, execute the cooking of the meal at planned time, serve the meal, hope everyone eats the meal, put away leftovers, clean up, reflect on how to improve it for next time and make sure to save the recipe. Rinse and repeat. Wow I’m tired. All this is to recognize the effort in making dinner, and to fully express my gratitude for everyone who has and who is planning to bring over a meal. It’s more work than it sounds like, and it takes so much (i.e. the lines above) off of my plate (pun intended) and allows me to focus my time and effort elsewhere.
This week I spent extra time with Brady, cleaned the house, had a great appt with my primary oncologist at Inova, went to acupuncture, spent quality time with my Dad, went for a long walk at sunrise, moved my body with body weight resisted exercises and yoga, listened to a podcast, laughed, slept well, ate well, enjoyed a nice cup of coffee.
I am soaking up all the big and little things before I have to hunker down for round 3 of chemo. (Did anyone catch my reference there?!? ;)
There is evidence that certain things are associated with improved outcomes during cancer treatment, and one of them is social support and connection. You are all literally helping me fight cancer just by being here, so thank you! And I hope to continue to see many of you in person as we are able and as I feel up to it. We are following those old familiar Covid like precautions over here - outdoor hangs are the safest (weather and air quality permitting) and masks inside, since my immune system is compromised.
I’ll wrap with a sweet Brady story - he was talking about monsters and being scared of monsters and he asked me if I was scared of monsters. I said “I would be scared if I saw a monster”, and he said “Really? You are the bravest person in the whole world!”. Sweet boy! I reminded him that sometimes being brave is when you are scared but you do it anyway. So yeah Brady, you are right, I am brave.
Sending you all much love, hugs, and quality time with your loved ones.
In gratitude,
Claire
I have to give particular shout outs to my friends and coworkers!
My coworkers at Inova Alexandria are too kind and generous. Not only did they collect a large sum of money, but they gifted me a highly recommended cookbook, a jacket that makes my port (and arms) accessible for treatment, port covers for protection, a Rock the Treatment box (scroll through photos to see) full of thoughtful items to use during treatment, and a UGA headband that was featured during my 2nd round of chemo. My favorite item in the rock the treatment box is the mocktail jelly belly beans lol because I’m definitely alcohol free, but my sense of humor is still intact :)
And we have had 3 friends drop off dinners to us over the past week and a half and holy cow - you ladies can cook!!! Shout out to my PT and OT friends who could pivot and become home chefs. I would be grateful for the meals no matter what they tasted like, but wow they were good! And enjoyed by all - Taylor and Brady and I. It was also lovely to visit with you all, and now Brady want to come to your house to play and has invited himself over, haha!
Switching gears, I’ve been doing a lot of reflection these past few weeks, and I’ve had a revelation. I think the meaning of life, in the practical sense, is figuring out what’s for dinner :) If not the meaning of life, it certainly is a defining characteristic of adulthood. I’m half joking but half serious, hear me out - no matter what my health status has been, I am always thinking about what’s for dinner for my family. Brainstorming what to cook, what everyone’s preferences are, what’s most nutritious versus what will we actually want to eat, how long will it take to cook, do I have time to cook this week?/no time so its going to be a slow cooker meal, make list of ingredients to buy/check what we already have/check expiration dates, find time to go to the store, improvise when things are out of stock, plan ahead for meal prep timing or slow cooker start time, improvise if fresh ingredients are no longer fresh or expiration dates have passed, execute the cooking of the meal at planned time, serve the meal, hope everyone eats the meal, put away leftovers, clean up, reflect on how to improve it for next time and make sure to save the recipe. Rinse and repeat. Wow I’m tired. All this is to recognize the effort in making dinner, and to fully express my gratitude for everyone who has and who is planning to bring over a meal. It’s more work than it sounds like, and it takes so much (i.e. the lines above) off of my plate (pun intended) and allows me to focus my time and effort elsewhere.
This week I spent extra time with Brady, cleaned the house, had a great appt with my primary oncologist at Inova, went to acupuncture, spent quality time with my Dad, went for a long walk at sunrise, moved my body with body weight resisted exercises and yoga, listened to a podcast, laughed, slept well, ate well, enjoyed a nice cup of coffee.
I am soaking up all the big and little things before I have to hunker down for round 3 of chemo. (Did anyone catch my reference there?!? ;)
There is evidence that certain things are associated with improved outcomes during cancer treatment, and one of them is social support and connection. You are all literally helping me fight cancer just by being here, so thank you! And I hope to continue to see many of you in person as we are able and as I feel up to it. We are following those old familiar Covid like precautions over here - outdoor hangs are the safest (weather and air quality permitting) and masks inside, since my immune system is compromised.
I’ll wrap with a sweet Brady story - he was talking about monsters and being scared of monsters and he asked me if I was scared of monsters. I said “I would be scared if I saw a monster”, and he said “Really? You are the bravest person in the whole world!”. Sweet boy! I reminded him that sometimes being brave is when you are scared but you do it anyway. So yeah Brady, you are right, I am brave.
Sending you all much love, hugs, and quality time with your loved ones.
In gratitude,
Claire
Comments
Janet Gerber 25 days ago
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