In the meantime . . .

In my non-cancerous existence I am employed by Community Home Repair Projects of Arizona (CHRPA for short - say it: CHIRP-uh.  Yes, it's another awkward Mennonite acronym and no, we don't have anything to do with birds).  CHRPA does home repair at no cost for people in our community who couldn't otherwise afford it including carpentry, roofing, plumbing, coolers, and (my specialties) electrical and furnaces.  I've been at it about three years now.  And yes, I do all of that and am simultaneously a woman (if you didn't pick that up from the cancer I suffer starting in one of my ovaries). That is to say, normally I'm out in the field every day, doing the home repairs and training volunteers to do the same.  However, after major abdominal surgery and subsequently diving headfirst into chemo, I stopped that.  I have not been climbing ladders, crawling under sinks or trailers, or going out in the field at all.  CHRPA work is dirty and tiring, and not in a "clean dirt" or moderately tiring sort of way. Chemo patients are not supposed to be that sort of dirty or tired. 

So, for the past couple months on my non-bad weeks on my non-chemo days when I've been feeling well,  I've been going into the office to work on writing grants and occasionally answering phones and doing other things that need doing and don't involve physical labor or really grimy places. 

Today, though, for the first time, I went in to work with my pliers holster on my belt and my purple bandanna on my head.  I went out to jobs with my boss, and we did 4 furnace startups/cooler shutdowns and installed 2 grab bars in under four hours.  He graciously did all the ladder-maneuvering and roof-top stuff, anticipating that it'll take me a while to get my full strength and endurance back.  I'm not suddenly 100% again, but it does feel good to be so tangibly useful. 

I'm also not consistent at 4 days a week yet.  For example: tomorrow's a holiday, Thursday I have medical stuff most of the day, and CHRPA doesn't work on Fridays.  I'm still waiting, expecting to go back on the poison drip in a few weeks after I finish the next round of tests and an appropriate protocol is determined, but in the meantime, I might as well fix some houses. 

At the end of the day I got sent out to help a VSer who needed some supplies from the shop.  The project was some very aggravating, poorly engineered, cheaply executed plumbing to fix (de rigeur for a CHRPA day), and we ended up working quite late, which today feels more like an accomplishment than an irritation.  After getting back to the office, Daniel the VSer set down two bottles in front of me, saying they were for me, from the client (we'd driven separately and I'd left a few minutes before him).  Closer inspection revealed them to be shampoo and conditioner. 

. . .

What??