Thanksgiving on chemo, one family's coping strategy

My family celebrated Thanksgiving on Sunday due to my having chemo scheduled on the day before Thanksgiving. We made big servings for a small group and my husband and I took most of the leftovers home. We ate leftovers of turkey and dressing and cranberries and the works every meal except one since Sunday so that we would be sick of turkey and dressing and it would be the last thing we would want again by Thursday.

The plan worked very well. We loved having traditional family dinner on Sunday instead of Thursday...couldn't really tell any difference in that and the actual day. After all, it's being together that matters, not the calendar day. Everything tasted great, everyone got along; it was about as perfect as it gets these days for a holiday with those of us still living getting together.

And the leftovers were great the next day the first time, less so the second time. By today my husband and I had our fill and could barely stand to eat turkey yet once again. There was a little bit of the various foods left and so I made rice and mixed it with turkey and ground asparagus and now it is holiday dog food.

For Thursday, my husband will grill himself a steak, which is already marinating, and have it with a baked potato and some bagged salad, and watch football on TV...he will be content doing that; all the while I will mostly be comatose, sleepig in between bouts of foot and leg cramps etc., drinking room temp water as much as I can force down, but being in the same room with him at home, nevertheless. I won't feel deprived because I've already had the holiday, had all the traditional food I could stand, and the last thing I will feel like after chemo is eating anything.

I think this is about as good as it gets for a Thanksgiving on chemo at our house. We won't feel deprived (not even the dogs), and will also have something special to be thankful for, no matter how bad the Oxi side effects are this round -- I am halfway through my chemo treatments after Wednesday. Woo-hoo!

Oh and they have me scheduled for chemo two days before Christmas too. I guess we will repeat this holiday plan since it seems to be workable for all parties. I'm lucky in that I'm not the first cancer patient in my family and so someone else understands the way you feel after chemo (my father) and that makes others flexible.

K1