Monday, September 30, 2019 by Alyssa Joy Claffey | Uncategorized

Dear Students and Parents,

Happy Fall! I hope the first month of school has gone well and you are falling into a nice routine. I finally have updated schedule info for the rest of my treatment plan. I am so grateful for your patience and support throughout this process, as I navigated the ups and downs of chemotherapy. 

I had more negative side effects with Taxol than I was hoping, and have experienced extreme exhaustion and nausea over the last 11 doses. I have also developed neuropathy in my feet, so I have taken a reduced dose to prevent any neuropathy from developing in my hands.  What a journey this cure has been! I am thrilled to announce my FINAL chemo is on Friday, October 4th, and moving forward I will have no treatments until November 25th. This will give us seven weeks of consistent lessons in October and November before Thanksgiving Break! 

Starting November 25th, I will begin six weeks of radiation, five days per week. This treatment is only available in Boise or Twin Falls, so I have purchased a small RV to make commuting easier. After extensive conversations and planning with my family, doctors, and my care team at St. Luke’s, we have decided the best location is Boise. The hospital has RV hookups, and I will spend Monday afternoon - Friday morning in Boise for radiation, then head up to teach Friday afternoon and all day Saturday. 

I never could have predicted that this is how I would spend 2019, but there have been many blessings along the way, I have received incredible care from St. Luke’s, and your support and encouragement has kept me going! I cannot wait to get back to a little bit of normalcy in October and November and see all your smiling faces. If you have not picked a fall lesson time yet, please log in to the portal, text, or email me to get a good time for you on the calendar! Thank you for being a part of this healing journey with me - looking forward to lessons next week!

Lesson Schedule

Regular Lessons: Monday, October 7th - Friday, November 22nd

Fall Recital: Friday, November 22nd @ 5:30 p.m., 780 Warm Springs

Thanksgiving Break: Monday, November 25th - Thursday, December 6th

Modified Lesson Schedule: Friday, December 7th - Saturday, December 21st

Christmas Sing-a-Long/Play-a-long: Saturday, December 21st @ 5:30 p.m.

Winter Break: Sunday, December 22nd - Sunday, January 12th

Lessons Resume: Monday, January 13th