Saturday through Tuesday

Saturday was a crazy day.

knowing we were planning to check into the hospital on Sunday it seemed like Saturday would be a relaxed day. But that was not the case. In the morning, Michele had a CT scan they wanted to do of her core area. Andrew was in town and so he and Andrea took her down to the medical center for her visit. I took it as an opportunity to run Christmas gifts to family and friends.

We discovered it is a hard and fast rule of one guest… That is it! But they navigated that and got the scan done and headed home.

I managed to make it to the other side of town just in time for a storm front to pass through. I had not watched the weather much that day until I was firmly in it. After I dropped the last presents off, i tried to come home. It has been a long time since I had driven in such weather in and around Houston. Using my hazards at times and driving slowly I finally made it home.

The making of Scramble and family time

This is a family tradition and when I got home, the house was filled with the smell of chex mix and spices. Michele had a headache in the morning, and it was getting worse. Her eyes were burning, and she started feeling worse as the day went on. She never has headaches or any allergic reactions. We had plans for the Yeakeys to come over for dinner.

She went on to lay in bed and rest as we had dinner and visited. I wish she was feeling better that evening. Throughout the evening, Megan checked on her and got her medicine to help with the headache. It could have come from the CT scan, the cooking, or the weather.

The night was not fun

She had been feeling so good going into this weekend that this night was concerning for us. She had vomiting episodes throughout the night and the headache was getting worse. As soon as the morning arrived, we finished packing and headed to the hospital to go ahead and get checked in.

Hospital time

This is a new Hospital for us. It was a pleasant surprise to have a friend of good friends on the floor as our patient coordinator when we arrived. It makes you realize it is a small world. I am not sure how he was assigned that day as I have not seen him on the floor since that morning, but we appreciated a friendly face on arrival. Thank you, Peyton!

We got settled in and they started on anti-nausea and pain meds immediately. Her last food had been lunch on Saturday, and it felt like Sunday and the morning of Monday was a steady battle to get her headache and nausea in check. The anti-nausea medicine was knocking her out, so it was mostly sleeping for the next 24 hours.

The medicine for anti-nausea can cause her to dream in a light conscious state (Hallucinate a bit) Maybe it was a trance, and she was looking into the future? We have some interesting predictions from this time to see if they will come true.

By mid-day Monday the doctors were ready to start the chemo. When they started the pre-meds it was almost a miracle that all the effects of the headache and nausea disappeared.

Day two of Chemo is now done.

The good news is she is feeling good right now after the second day of Chemo is done. Monday night she was fully aware and starting to eat again. We watched some more episodes of Yellowstone Season 4 (almost caught up but not fully yet.) I was tired and went to sleep and she stayed up working til 3am.

Today, she has been working almost non-stop as well. Even right up to the moment they applied chemo in her Ommaya Reservoir. She resumed working after that and is still working as I write this at 10pm.

She was the top producer on our sales call this morning for her efforts last week. She continues to be one hell of an example when it comes to health challenges. I am amazed by it as well as others in the team that are overcoming different obstacles to be in the top 5 as well.

Michele is getting Chemo in her Ommaya Reservoir today

I beat my son in poker this evening.

Ok. It was just he and I in the online poker room. But I did win. Even with a hand that should not have won! I needed that. Thanks Dustin! The other family members of the home game club need to join us in the coming days.

Me?

I get very scared, confused, and sad in these times of big swings in her health. All things moving positively and all it takes is one small mistake or health issue and this all can turn for the worst. I scared the nurses last night when she was getting in the shower, and I heard a loud crash. It was just the shower seat for patients falling into position, but it made me jump.

I try and not show it much. I have no idea how my dad held up like he did when my mom was sick. In hindsight I understand more of the signs of the struggles.

There are people that I can lean on in my weakness. Thank you. There are others that make me laugh and have agreed to pretend things are normal. Thank you. There are frustrations in trying to find answers to some things that seem to drag in the mud as if there is an intention to slow things down. In this season of the year, I want to believe that people are working to make things happen vs justify why they won’t. I am old enough to know that none of these things are surprising and I work to find peace inside and breathe.

This is life

I wish I could say we are unique in this journey. We know that we are not. This is our journey. As I mentioned to a good friend today… we will get to the other side of this stronger. I pray that everyone else that is going through their own struggles will find the path to their own inner peace.

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to all. We expect to be home no later than Christmas day. We will post another post when we arrive home.

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