It's a personal notice, and is not intended to be entertaining. Everyone is welcome to read it, of course, but if you are not acquainted with SWMBO and don't care to read this kind of thing, please don't feel obliged to continue.
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When SWMBO returned home from Seattle Saturday Afternoon, I was waiting at her house to greet her. There was a floral arrangement on her front porch from her niece, so I moved it inside and aired out the house while I waited for her.
I greeted her at her car and told her to go inside and read the card while I brought in her luggage. That consisted of her three bags, her small walk-around pulse-supply of oxygen, as well as the large oxygen tank system which she need to breath easily while she slept.
She was still feeling strong, and was in a very good mood. We chatted for a couple of hours and got caught up. She told me about her doctor and her treatment.
One of the things that I wasn't aware of was that the chemotherapy included both an anti-nausea medication and an antihistamine, intended to avoid the side-effects from the other, more deadly heavy-metal drugs. She had also received a prescription for anti-nausea medication, which she had filled.
After chatting for a while, I suggested that the new Indiana Jones movie had just become available on DVD. I had bought the previous 3 episodes for her viewing pleasure a few weeks ago, and I thought it would help pass the time while she settled into her regular routine. I offered to go to the video store and rent it, and invited her to come along. I expected her to pass, as she had just completed a 5-hour commute from Seattle to Geekistan, but she gladly accepted the invitation as we wanted to go to the grocery store to get something for dinner.
At the video store, there were no available copies of the movie to rent. However, there were a few new copies for sale, so we bought one to complete her collection.
After shopping at the grocery story, we went home and almost immediately started the movie while we settled down to dinner.
While watching, we learned two things:
- Magnets attract Gunpowser, Lead buckshot from a shotgun shell, and gold coins. I did not know this.
- Harrison Ford is too old to realistically play an Action Hero. I short of expected this.
We capped the evening with a half-pint of Haggen Daaz Vanilla Ice Cream (for me) and a cup of some yogurt treat (for Sandie, who can't eat sugar, red meat, starchy foods, and a host of other foods without which I would starve to death.)
We stayed awake as long as we could, alternatively chatting and watching bad Cabel television, and then got a good night's sleep.
Sunday morning I arose early to go get the Sunday newspapers at the local 7-11. I turned on the coffee before I left, and by the time I got back Sandie was up and sitting on the couch, reading.
She was much less ebullient. In fact, she dozed on the couch for much of the day. About noon, she decided to take the first dose of the anti-nausea prescription because she was feeling queasy.
During the day she became even more quiet, and tired. She ate a couple of times, but never had much of an appetite.
We had been told to expect this by Sherrie, Queen of the Jungle, and by her doctor. Apparently, the added medications give the patient a false sense of good health until they wear off. Then lassisitude and nausea take over, rendering the patient incapable of more than an occasional burst of energy. Phone calls from friends and family help, but then the lassisitude returns.
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We had received an email from friend Randomly Hitten and his lovely wife, Misses Hitten, on Thursday. They said they planned to be in Geekistan on Sunday (today), and wanted us to join us for dinner ... their treat.
I had replied that this was probably not an invitation which we could accept, as SWMBO would most likely going to be not going to feel like eating, let alone appearing in public and feeling up to a social occassion.
This turned out to be true, and while we were disappointed that we could not join our friends we were also grateful that they had understood the situation. In the actual event, they didn't call asking us to meet them for dinner, and we were grateful because it would have been even more disappointing had we needed to turn down their gracious invitation again.
When I finally left SWMBO, she was feeling about the same. She wasn't hungry, and I didn't expected her to be.
I just talked to her on the phone. She still has no appetite, she still feels a little queasy. She talked to her boss and received permission to telecommute from home tomorrow.
As for the rest of the week, she'll be 'playing it by ear'. She'll go to work if she can, and if not she'll provide support from home as she is able.
She's a brave, strong lady and she is dealing with a difficult situation as well as anyone can be expected to do.
Next week she will have to drive to Seattle again for her second Chemotherapy treatment. (Her Sister The Angle will be driving her up and back the same day -- the appointment isn't until 12:45. After that, she should be able to take the treatments locally, which will be much easier on her.
The good news is that her Seattle Oncologist has said that he is very pleased with her treatment, and a second review of her tests suggests that they may be able to reduce the schedule from 12 weekly treatments to 8 weekly treatments.
This is very good news indeed, and I hope that things work out as well as he has so optimistically offered.
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