New Territory

Kev's found himself on the other side of the patient/doctor/caregiver triangle recently. I'm not sure it's as easy as he thought it might be and I know it's not bringing the balance of power he expected.

That at least keeps me entertained so I'm less cranky about this week's 4 visits to my new doctor's office. Peggy was as good as her word and got me in to see someone within days of our last meeting.

Four appointments this week is a lot of intrusion into my space. Literally. The new doctor is a gynecologist.

After an endometrial biopsy earlier this week, I had a "surgery consultation" with the doctor today and Kevin came along to meet her.

Gynecology offices aren't made for men. They're very pink and full of very pink stuff.

Whereas I found the 3 dimensional pop-apart rendering of the stomach, intestines and rectum in Dr. Francis' office very intriguing--and was quite happy to pull the pieces out and try to fit them back together, Kevin seemed a little discomfited by a similar rendering of uterus, ovaries and vagina in Dr. Lovell's office. And he wasn't having any part of puzzle play with it.

I think he thought it was vaguely naughty to play with the thing. Which made me laugh all the more.

I pointed out that his butt was completely uncharted territory for me and I adapted quickly to the language and topigrahical discussion. I remember Dr. Francis and I doing a couple of impromptu tag-team sketches of the critical parts of Kev's ass as Dr. Francis was explaining the surgery and healing process to us.

One would think nearly 2 decades of marriage would bring Kevin a certain comfortable familiarity with the language and inner workings of female geography but not so.

I was apparently wrong about us having explored, in graphic medical detail, all of the taboo subjects (and areas) in this last year.

Autumn Herald

Being away even for as little time as a weekend, lets us see things with new eyes.

Whether it's the lack of rain or a herald of changing seasons, we were surprised by the leaves on the ground near the woods. A hint of autumn color is beginning to show in places and we noticed the deer are becoming downright chunky after a summer of plenty.

One of the does came up to feed in the cool of the morning today. She is without her fawns this morning and she sizes me up quickly. My computer and I are no threat to her time out. She enjoys raiding the feeders for breakfast as surely as I enjoy watching.

A lone leaf drifted down from the trees just in time for me to snap it with my camera. It reminds me of what I like about this time of year--the colors, smells, sounds, the slowing down of time.

Easter Baby

Our Kate is pregnant.

Our baby is having a baby. Never mind that she's on the downward slide toward 25 years old, as the youngest of the sisters, she is eternally the baby of the family.

Saturday evening brought tears I held back as both she and James cried when they told us. Parents pray their children's tears will be tears of happiness, not worry, at the news of a new baby. And we hope our answering tears will be joyful, not mingled with doubt and concern.

The pieces of life--finances, living arrangements, healthcare and job concerns--add an underlying stress to their announcement.

We will, all the same, lovingly welcome a new member to our clan sometime around Easter 2009. A spring time baby.

Having cleared the hurdle of telling parents, Kate has been making phone calls to her sisters and aunt. I sense a growing excitement among les trois tantes. They are already making plans for a girl child. I dig through a closet, find a box and carefully unwrap Katie's baptismal gown of nearly twenty-five years ago. I remember her Easter birthdays and Barbie cakes.

This family is ready for the joy of new life and the hope that comes with it.

Summer PIcnic

Picnic at the lake. My sister and brother-in-law welcomed their two exchange students and many friends to a picnic on their farm. The boys are from Denmark and Brazil and seemed to have already settled in comfortably in their new surroundings.

It was a gorgeous day filled with fishing, canoeing, the sound of laughter and the smell of food on the grill.

Kate couldn't get out to the party due to her work schedule and was adamant about meeting us for dinner back in Lafayette. So we'll be leaving the hotel soon to meet her at Spagheddies. She said "we'll see you there" which leads me to believe James will be joining us. We're not exactly sure what their relationship is these days but I'll bet we figure it out over dinner.

Frozen Recovery

Our freezer marks the progress of Kevin's recovery from the cold induced effects of Oxaliplatin.

Cherry Cordial Ice Cream. Popsicles. External Hard Drives??













For the computer uninitiated, those thin black things are external hard drives. I discovered them while looking for something to prepare for supper. Kevin apparently stashed them in the freezer last night. It's a techie trick to try to buy enough time to retrieve the files stored on an overheating hard drive.

Just weeks ago he couldn't have easily handled the frozen hard drives. Or stood the nerve pain of having the cold ice cream in his mouth.

He's making progress, healing. I'm making dinner. Something with blackened external hard drives..

Un-Chemotherapy Day #5

It's un-chemotherapy day again. The every other week reckoning of symptoms, side effects and healing.

Five un-chemotherapy days = 1o weeks of un-chemotherapy = A Much Happier Kevin

Continuing side effects of treatment are almost unnoticeable some days, a lingering nag on many days and an intrusive reality on a few days.

Healing a body from the side effects of cancer treatment is less than an exact science. There are some things filed under the "we don't really know why that happens" heading. Kevin and I continue our Mad Scientist approach to much of it--trying to decide what does and doesn't impact things for better or worse on a daily basis.

The neuropathy in his hands and feet continues to be a consistent annoyance. He's adjusting to the ongoing tingle and the frustration of dropping things but is hoping to see more improvment in this area. Some of the cold sensitivity in his mouth lingers but not enough to keep him from becoming a regular at Dairy Queen's drive through window.

He gets tired easily--a really deep tired that still surprises him--but his energy level is increasing each week.

His appetite is better--ravenous is the word he uses. Most foods taste good again; some things are still undefined. A few foods don't taste like he thinks they should taste.

This may have more to do with my cooking than his tasting, but we'll just see how it plays out over the next few months.

The College, er, MiddleAge Days

I had a realization tonight.

We have hit middle age-- one of us has the AARP card to prove it--and we live like college students. Our lifestyle has regressed.

We have downsized a 4 bedroom house into a 2 bedroom apartment.

Our bikes are parked in the lving room. They are used often enough to make it too large of an effort to wheel them clear through the apartment to their niche beside the storage shed on the patio.

The placemats are folded over the back of one of the unused chairs at the dining room table. Too much trouble to wash them if someone spills, easier to wipe the table.

The tablecloth is...I don't remember where the tablecloth is. It was here when I moved in. But sometime over the months it disappeared to the laundry room and never returned.

The dishwasher is as much storage as it is utility.

There are more Pepsi cans than milk cartons in the recycling bin.

There is an unhung picture leaning on the fireplace mantel. There has been one or another leaning there for months.

I consider dusting a task to do when company is expected. Maybe. When the queen drops in for tea or something.

If I wanted to mop the floor, I would have to dust off the mop first.

We ate pizza in front of the TV tonight. Not even homemade pizza. Unbaked pizzas we hauled home in a cooler from Arni's in Lafayette and stored in the freezer for later times. Like a care package from a mom to her campus kid.

I used to keep a perfectly ordered house where dust feared to tread and there were fresh flowers on the table (from my own well maintained gardens). I imagined it would become much easier, and still very important, to do when our children were grown and the house was no longer filled with the messiness of family life.

The truth is, fresh cut flowers make me sneeze and dust only bothers me if I bother it first. I like the picture unhung, it's easy to change the scenery of my day this way. And under the tablecloth there lurked a beautiful natural wood finish on the dining table--that doesn't have to go into the washing machine to be cleaned.

The house has been traded in for an apartment and it turns out biking is highly enjoyable when you're not worried about the child wobbling in front of or behind you.
And pizza truly is better when it's eaten in front of the TV.