2002 Story Set
| June 7, 2002 Thursday was a long chemo day. Fortunately, my son got up in time to actually eat something before we left. This reduced his morning crabbiness. I made egg and button mushroom omelets and finger-sliced toast. I had a little of the eggs and my Medifast. I always start the day with good intentions. I woke him up gently. I laid my head on his chest and patted his face. Seemed to work. Usually I scream and pound the door. I had to of course scream later, when he just smiled and rolled over after being patted. Oh no you don't! This was another HOT day - very hot. And we knew it would be miserable when we left the hospital later. I pulled the van under the overhang in the hospital parking lot, and all day watched people struggle with dehydration. We got him hooked up to the IV (port access) with out incident (good!) and I had the recliner and a portable TV-VCR. I brought movies. He had Benadryl and some anti-nausea stuff. We put up his legs. He did not feel good. Hmmmm. Maybe breakfast was NOT a good idea. We watched the Negotiator and then watched Down Periscope. Made the day run faster. He did not react to the Etopacide this time. So far, so good. They dropped his other pills to two a day (Monday's hospital run for the lip infection). GCSF is this next week and a full blood panel on Wednesday. No other drugs. Taking care of him is getting much easier. We were done by 4 PM and headed home in heat and traffic. Team in Training is somewhere I haven't figured out and they are discussing an honoree who died. I think I am not up to that tonight. Death is not something I am doing well around. We had my older son's grandmother die last Friday. Her memorial is Saturday in San Diego. We can't make it. I am not driving my younger son down and back in the heat with his lip infection. My son had a tea and a soda all day, no food. He had had a soda in the car on the way in. I had a banana and two sodas and a coffee, decaf and diet soda that is. Except for a fast visit by the doctor and her niece, which set my son off, (cute 19 yr olds do set him off, he's quite normal), it was an uneventful day. Which, for a chemo patient, is a good thing. I had cereal (raisin bran) and he had a lean cuisine meal first thing in the door at 4PM. At 6PM I broiled the bourbon-soaked steak. It's the other half of last night's dinner. (You take a steak, poke it, cover it in grilling sauce, olive oil and bourbon and marinate. Add pepper and salt and any other seasonings.) I prefer the shorter marinating. But it was, in a word, delicious. Green beans for both of us and a seeded roll for him completed dinner. He snacked on chips and dip, which I cannot keep him out of. He has dropped weight. I have not. I retired to doze a bit. Heat does that. Then I began responding to email. I posted the photo of the kidnapped child (we know a writer who knows the family) on the Fabio and on my story websites. [Utah child home abduction.] I think there is little hope (3 hour window is what they say). But I also want the S.O.B. caught. My psychic friend wants the 9 year old hypnotized at once. Best bet for a good likeness. Lots of confusion about that case. And then it's animal care time and an unpleasant discovery. My dishwasher has died. I think. Three years old. Sears - get over here! But wait. It is full of water but it at least did the dishes. They were fine. If it had to fail, the end of the cycle was a good place. Damn. At the same time, the water softener (in the house in San Diego) has just died. It dates from 1984 or thereabouts. And I just had the plumber for the bathroom sinks. It's always something. So I went to the kitchen and made applesauce-based oatmeal cookies with walnuts and raisins. And pushed buttons on the dishwasher. And of course my son hates the cookies. One a day complex carbs. I may freeze them. No chocolate in them. In the process of baking the cookies, the dishwasher, now unloaded and taken apart - at least partly, is running merrily. It remains to see if it will drain. If it is a clog, I can fix that. After a few minutes, it went into the "drain" cycle and didn't. I checked the thingy on the sink and it is clear. Oh joy. That means tomorrow, in the midst of other things, I must scoop out water and try to pull the bottom apart. I think I can remember how to do that. If not-----. Outside the wind is up (good!) and a breeze is blowing. The heat wave is vicious during the day. Besides scooping water and being the handyman tomorrow, I will be in the pool. Right after I get the tarp up on the rafters where it belongs. I may retire now (nearly 11PM) with windows open. My son is glued to the MTV awards. Picking out movies to drag me to see. I hope there are good ones. Rentals at BlockBuster are horrid. There is nothing left to rent! Nothing that I want to see that is. Digital Cable isn't doing too well either! Time to read. (Actually, my son has actually said this! Will wonders never cease!) Maybe there is a positive to having Digital Cable. Books become attractive. Take it from someone who has made her way through about 1 a day of late. Probably too much soda with caffeine in it, diet or otherwise. So many rules. So little time. |
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