Kevin went into work for a little while this morning and got home shortly after the home care nurse, Pam, arrived. Thirty minutes and one mountain of paperwork later and we could call this treatment done.
One of those "ah-ha" moments happened today when I realized I can rattle off medical dates for him--diagnosis, surgery, port surgery, treatments, hospitalizations, CT scans--with the response and surety previously reserved to our children's birthdays and our anniversary.
Side effects this round are about what we expected. He has that awful headache which, if untreated, causes nausea and a general worn out feeling. The Oxaliplatin nerve thing is in full swing too; not an easy side effect to cope with when the outdoor temperature is 9 degrees. He's back to drinking tap water and unchilled bottled juice because anything cold is painful in his mouth. And he's really tired today--also consistent with how things went during previous cycles of treatment. Sleep can be an elusive thing when he's trying to find that comfort zone in the midst of being connected to 6 feet of IV tubing and the infusion pump.
Nurse Pam headed on to her next patient and Kevin dropped like a rock on the Man-Couch. A little undisturbed rest is just what he needs so I've muffled his ever-present cell phone with a pillow-whatever is urgently buzzing from the other end can wait a bit-turned off the sounds on my computer and shut off the dishwasher.
Letting the housework wait for a better time, getting things as peaceful as possible, recognizing the priorities...reminds me of a crewel embroidery piece I did as a young mother...
Cleaning and scrubbing can wait 'til tomorrow
For babies grow up, we've learned to our sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs, dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.
So I'll be quiet now. My baby is sleeping.
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