Opulent -- Word for the Day -- Monday, January 12, 2009

opulent

DEFINITION: (adjective) possessing or exhibiting great wealth.

Just a catch up to fill you in on our happenings. Friends, family, work, patients.

1. Our friends from Alabama, Billy and Sherry, are back in Arkansas. He had his bone marrow biopsy yesterday. You will remember, he is the one that had a stroke in Memphis while traveling back home after his stem cell transplant. He has a doctor's appointment on Wednesday.

2. Our friends from Alabama, Keith and Diane arrived in Little Rock on Saturday. He had his bone marrow biopsy today and has a doctor's appointment on Wednesday. He is the very 'first' MM patient we met. He stays in the Hospitality House rented by ChemoSabe's and my mentor from back in 1997. The house is owned by the church I work for.

3. A patient that also stayed in the house, Mike and Linda from Michigan. He passed away yesterday. Linda also lost her dad a week ago.

4. A patient that stay in the house, too, Steve from Indiana, passed away last month.

These are all MM patients, but we have heard from wonderful stories from them through their trials.

ChemoSabe gets his bag off tomorrow. What a weight that will be lifted from him. His platelets are beginning to drop slowly. They have come down about 10 in the last two days. His blood pressure is going up. His weight is a different story. He has gained about 15 lb in the last two weeks. When he discussed this with the doctor last week she told him it was actually a good thing because if he were losing weight it would mean the MM was eating away his nutrients. The Dexamethazone makes him gain, too.

The Dex also makes him crabby, irritable, moody, hot flashy, angry, antsy, bitchy, nagging and just plain hard to live with. This time seems the worst. He should realize what it is doing to him and stop it before it happens, but it just happens. So, I have been biting my tongue. Well, what tongue I have left! ha We discussed it this evening and he tells me it just comes out. Hey... now he knows how it feels to go through menopause.

That reminds me of a story... When we first got married (22 years ago) we had an argument. Our arguments were horrible then. You know what they say about the first year. Well, during this argument he makes a statement: "Did you forget to take your pill?".... OMG... I jumped up in the middle of the bed and he was standing by the bed and I walloped him. He stood there and told me to do it again. I didn't want to... To this day, I have never hit him again and he SURELY has never asked me if I have taken my pill.. No sirreee. If I asked him that right now, I would probably get walloped, too.. (Snork)

Some of the patients have been telling him about a new drug (Lycria) that will reduce or eliminate the numbness in his feet from the side effects of the Thalidomide. His doctor told him last week he would be getting B-6 and B-12 shots after the chemo. Those should help with the numbness. I had to remind him of that, but he spoke with his APN about it today anyway. She agreed about the B-12 and B-6.

All-in-all he has been doing very well. He has been getting tired in the afternoons after getting home from work and he has been hitting the recliner. He has hit the bed early tonight already after leaving the recliner and eating dinner.

His Phosporus was low yesterday and they sent him home with a five hour drip. I had to flush out his lines and recap. That scares me. I think about those iv lines going down through his juggler and I have to talk to myself to make certain I don't leave one open. I can see germs going down inside the plastic.

Although we are already tired of the process (protocol)our lives are opulent, thanks to our Almighty God. He keeps us strong and sees us through.

My mom has been simple minded the last few days. I find myself talking to her and listening to her as if she is about four years old. I have to repeat myself and when she repeats herself she thinks she is saying the correct thing, but what comes out of her lips makes no sense. We do laugh and we have some good conversations. She seems to know exactly what is going on with ChemoSabe. He showed her his bag and iv lines this weekend. She called one of the CNAs in and showed her the same. She tried to explain and he finally told them what was going on. She loves to rub his hair. She really loved it when he was bald. They communicate very well. She loves to talk to him about the officers. She use to work with him many years ago.

She continuously asks if he is out of town and she suggests she needs to drive him when he travels since he might not be feeling well. He has tried to convince her he is okay, but she just shakes her head and tells him to call her the next time because she needs a part time job. Then she laughs.

Good night and Love Pepper