First week of radiation done

Yesterday we finished day five. Leaving seven more days to go. So far so good. The appointments are getting more efficient. They have it structured with their own valet area with maximum parking is two hours.

This area of the hospital impresses me as one of the older parts of MD Anderson. You don’t find much carpeted areas and the hallways are the shiny floors. I can only imagine the hundreds of millions of dollars in equipment behind the doors.

We knew this was a low dose and so far she is not having any side effects.

I knew this week was busy but…

I feel like we should have employee badges! We have been here everyday this week with only tomorrow off. 😊

We also had layered in follow up appointments for her fall as well. Even on the shortest days we are away from home for a minimum of 4 hours.

Today is lab work, readings, and a dressing change. Yesterday I went back to the week before the diagnosis to pull her blood numbers. It is eerie to see how normal they were the week before we started this adventure.

We are officially over the normal time period to expect the numbers to be off. My question is when does “normal” become normal again? We should know more in the coming week.

Date night

It was Friday night and i wanted to do something exceedingly normal. We ventured out to Chelsea’s wine bar which has an awesome vibe and sunset views. We picked a table next to the windows so we were in the cool air.

Something about ordering a cheese board, salad, and my favorite warm pretzel sticks. Coupled with a bottle of Cab to share. Our neighbor Katrinia popped by to sit and share the moment.

Life has many speed bumps and familiar places and friends are always a welcome sight. The place has plenty of room and charm. To laugh and talk about life is the true joy.

The sunset came and we headed home to head right into bed.

A second night

Without our cupcake in the house. We miss him dearly and had so many people share condolences. I still shine the flashlight in the middle of the night to make sure I am not stepping on him.

I know he no long has that cough that regularly woke us up. Our daughter Megan always pulls out the best pictures of him. It was a quiet night. I am sure he would want us to rest more now.

Next week

The amazing Linda returns to assist so I can spend some time working more this coming week. Illness is a thing that changes you.

I can’t say it feels like it has taken a year off our lives. I feel more that it strengthened our relationship foundation even more than what we had. Sometimes you grow tired in doing life. We had entered the trial run of empty nester a couple of years ago. We always seemed to have someone around.

We have learned to be alone and present with each other. As we leave this phase of illness and enter maintenance mode, I look at it as a totally new phase for us. We are still young and able and intend to grow in this phase.

And.

We could not have made this year without all of you. The love and caring and giving have been so overwhelming. We owe a deep debt of gratitude to so many.

Thank you! More reports to come next week. Enjoy the weekend

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