Grateful -- Word for the Day -- Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Grateful
Definition: endeared to others for things they do or say to brighten your day.

Don't get your dictionary out. It isn't the true definition. I didn't like the Word for the Day today, so I chose my own and made my own definition.

I am grateful today to be able to continue to have the relationship I do with Chemo Sabe. He worries about me I think sometimes more than I do him. He worries that I mow the yard, do the extra work around the house he was so used to doing. I use it as my release valve. The physical exertion does me more good than the mental.

Today's WBC was 0.50. We are hoping for an incline tomorrow. He is hoping to ride again this weekend. He wants to go to work this week for a few hours. If he feels like it, I am all for it.

Today would have been my grandma and grandpa's wedding anniversary. They have been gone for quite some time now. They were very special to me. I told grandma once I wanted someone I could lie in bed at night and talk over the day's events and solve problems. Someone I could sleep next to and know they would be there for me throughout the night and days. When I was younger and I spent the nights with them I could hear them talking into the night. Murmuring to each other and an occasional chuckle when they spoke of something the grand kids did. I told her before she died I had that someone, just as she had in grandpa. For that, I am grateful.

God still plays games with us. He turns our stressful moments into comical ones and we realize it and laugh (sometimes). Chemo Sabe and I take turns saying the blessing at each meal. It was my turn last night. I was worn out and having my own inward pity party. He wanted soup for supper. As I sat on our couch/bed and he in his recliner, I asked him to turn down that awfully loud t.v. Isn't it always loud when you are stretched? Instead of turning it down, he tosses the remote over to me and wouldn't you know it, the damn thing landed right in the middle of my bowl of soup. Go ahead, laugh..... I had to wash the comforter.

The urgent rushes to the bathroom have ended. He is now on a strong antibiotic for an intestinal bacterial infection. The chemo can burn the inner lining and cause an infection. It is a hard pill to swallow with the size and the bitter taste, but he is taking it three times a day. We believe a big contributor to the rushes was milk. He loves cereal and had been eating graham crackers and milk, too.

I have, I think, an organized presentation of his meds. I have them in the kitchen window and I have marked the labels with permanent marker with the date started, a.m./pm. and what they are for. Also, I have on the labels -- with food - without food. It works very well. After I take out all the p.m. pills, I leave the a.m. bottles on the counter for the next morning. The a.m. bottles are on the left side of the window and the p.m. are on the right. It has become very easy to pull them down in order without reading each label. When he stops one, I put the end date on it and put the bottle in a container on top of the frig.

Another God game. I laid all the a.m. pills in a paper towel, as usual, and put them on the bar on Monday morning. When I came back through the towel was gone. After asking, I discovered the pills were not taken, but thrown away. Hence, an older nickname -- Mr. Clean.

Appetite is returning somewhat. We had fish sticks tonight and he was eating off the stove before I could get them on the plates.

Grateful -- Yes, I am grateful to God for giving us joy and laughter. I am grateful to the Church I work for because they are so understanding. I am grateful to family for their undying care for us. I am grateful to my every day friend and boss that continues to brighten my day. And, the list goes on.

Please pray for Ms. Lucy at church. She has cancer and is back in the hospital. Her family has been advised to plan for her funeral.

We love you.... Pepper

p.s. -- We are going to a movie and dinner at UAMS for MM patients. Another one of those crazy cancer parties. Gotta love it.