2000
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October 1, 2000 He came home. He came home on Monday in the middle of my seminar week. Which meant that I was hauling tons of stuff to the car and then to the house along with the kid. And the kid does not walk well. We borrowed a walker from the hospital - since he has none- since it was to be delivered on Monday and I was not there to get it. I was loading my car. So - since he cannot care for himself (muscles atrophied) I took him to work with me on Tuesday and he sat in my classroom. He watched Momma work. He got a big laugh out of it - because I had a class that was sleeping. No matter what I did or said or tried. My last class pinned me to the wall - this one snoozed. I really like happy mediums. By 11 he was tired and took a nap (big pad on the floor - from the lawn chaise) - and sat up for lunch - I sat on the floor too. At afternoon break he went to the restroom - with his walker - and then sat in the break room while I finished teaching. He likes people and people were coming around to see him. On Wednesday I dropped him at the clinic in the early AM - very early - and went to work. I picked him up after work - but he was not really ready - needed blood - several bags. He had been weak on Wednesday while perky on Tuesday. It goes this way. Yo-yo. Tuesday they had brought the bath chair and walker and wheelchair (rental) at 9:15PM to my home. I had been waiting because I was actually trying to go to bed. But at least it came which made Wednesday easier. Thursday I worked from home - really easier - and Friday he was back at the clinic. He is due there at noon M-W-F every week. For the Ampho - for the fungus infection. And then there are thigh shots - chemo. And I have lots and lots of drugs, I dispense them throughout the day. 9AM - 3PM - 9 PM. Yellow, red, orange and green and sometimes white - the 6MP white ones require two hour fast before and 1 hour fast afterward. I bath him in the shower - his room - bath chair and hand-held sprayer I installed. He has his new bed. And new sheets. I do one -two loads of wash a day. And run the dishwasher often. (And my new Whirlpool dishwasher has decided to fail! It forgets to drain itself.) By Saturday we had decided on going to the movies. And to have dinner out. His first venture out. He walks very little - relies on the chair (I am weaning him from that slowly). He has physical therapy (large muscles) and occupational therapy (small motor control). He gets nausea - once a day. I have to take his temp. I wash and fetch and carry and lift him and am exhausted. He summons me by banging on the wall with the almost-assembled new headboard. (We have now acquired walkie-talkies for when I am in the family room and he in the bedroom or visa versa - after two incidents where he got upset and frustrated because I didn't hear him. I put mine in a shirt pocket and he was beeping my left breast. Funny. Very funny.) So Saturday came. I awoke with a start - it was 7:45AM and the animals were due for grooming at 8AM. This caused mad stumbling around while assuring myself he had a drink and the urinals handy, I fled to the pet store, cats and dog in tow. I came back and ran out again for another errand. Drugs. Food. I forget. And got back in time to go out again to get the animals. I was running late and sideways. I was tired. I dropped things. I spilled things. But I got the kid up and dressed and fed and we were ready when my older child arrived. He came with his keyboard - not having slept in 3 days either. A true coder. He is creating music. Very talented my children. He slept on the floor at his brother's feet while I raced out on yet another errand - to get cash. Along the way I did a massive amount of grocery shopping, When there are extra hands to help carry - use them! I got back, got the perishables into the refrigerator and we all piled into the 87 Toyota van - it was just like when they were kids - the older one in the back seat and the younger one (given preference due to his illness) in the front seat. This led to a number of smart remarks - it was always a contest as to who rode up front - I always had to divide the time up. There are three rows of seats in the van - you would think that was enough. Not with my boys! We decided coffee would be later - we were running late for "THE SCARY MOVIE . It did not have a matinee - and I had agreed (I hated to do it) to go anyway and pay full ticket price (I never pay full ticket price). I dropped off the boys - wheelchair and all and parked and ran back - and we sat outside the movie - thinking it hadn't started. I went for soda. I was still tired. And after this morning's errands and the mad shopping dash and all the rest, I was in bad shape. Three big ones. I stacked them. I can normally do this. Not today. I stacked them. Got straws. And promptly spilled two of them all over myself. Wet, sticky and disgusted, I mopped up, the theater refilled, and finally one of the boys (the one who walks) arrived to help me carry them. We sat outside the movie talking when it occurred to us that it was way past time to be inside - so we missed the previews and the opening of the movie. I never missed the opening before! We sat in the handicap section because it was handy. My seat was weird - pitched way back. My younger son stayed in his wheelchair. I kicked off my shoes and sat back. The movie was gross. Truly a teen-age flick. My younger son enjoyed it. So did his brother. Oh well. Afterward, we rolled on over to the Olive Garden to eat. My younger son's back was hurting (Monday - when they had operated and put a port back in - a butterfly dual-headed port - they had also done the spinal). I had yellow pills - Valium - for this event. I gave him half. But he couldn't break it by hand so he bit it. Never. ever bite Valium pills! I didn't know that! Seems the drug disintegrates and gets absorbed into the gums and hits FAST. Boy howdy! So he was zonked. We ordered. He wanted a big plate of all you can eat - and he couldn't eat it. I couldn't eat mine. Neither could my older son eat his. We gave up, packed up and took my semi-awake younger one home. Oh ho! Seems we had food poisoning. If we had finished - we would have been really, really sick. As it was, we were distressed all day Sunday. The leftovers had gone home with my older son - and he and his friend had eaten them and gotten sick. We pieced this together on Sunday night. On Monday, I brought my younger son back to work with me for the morning - Synopsys (bless them) has given him the use of an office. I have a cubicle - he has an office. He rubs this in. He thinks it is funny. At lunch times M-W-F I run him to the clinic. The other days he stays in the room. The hospital has arranged for a taxi for the Mondays and Wednesdays I teach (Tuesdays he will stay in the office). So he can get there and I can stay with my students. In case they want to run the labs. On clinic days I pick him up after work. On non-clinic days, he thinks of things for me to get him. I spend hours in the traffic in Silicon Valley. All this with a car needing an air conditioner (and 100 degree heat) or the van (which has no radio at the moment). Which has prompted him to suggest strongly that I get a 4-wheel drive Tacoma extended cab off-road toy - uh huh! Just what every woman needs! Mind you he was able to wheel around the computer store for new computer games (Diablo II being the fav), and around Target for "stuff" (try 6 videos, the walkie-talkies and other like adventures), and has acquired my G3 laptop. The 3400 just wasn't good enough. He walked, leaning on me, into Computerware for the new operating system (the laptop was running 8.5, we need 9.04 - we bought 9.0 and will download the patch). All this because he now has an optical mouse. (So do I. Just not installed yet. No more dirty balls. Mouse balls that is.) He walked, leaning on me, into Jamba juice. Double protein shot. Decided to have one a day. I forgot to by bananas. He walks, leaning on me, into the house at night and back out to the car in the morning. The wheelchair is temporary. I insist. I have to lift it and push it and drag it. Good thing I've been working out. He flops on the couch. Different positions. He flops in his bed. Different positions. This is good because he lay in one position at the hospital and was in danger of bed sores. He eats. Junk and other food. He demands. Constant attention. He's cranky and frustrated. He complains a lot. He fusses. He's a lot of work. But when I fell asleep beside him on the couch. and cried out in my sleep, I woke up with him patting my head. It's nice to have him home. |
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