Console - Word for the Day -- Thursday, November 5, 2009

Console (verb)

Definition: to alleviate the grief, sense of loss, or trouble of

Lord, I need your help today. Please guide me in the words, the wisdom, the compassion, strength and the honesty to share CheomSabe's experiences the last year with others.

I have been dealing with an individual at my work place facing brain and lung cancer. She began chemo treatments a few months back and radiation two weeks ago. She is going down hill fast. When I call to check on her the message machine says, "Please do not call me. I am too weak to take your call. Please leave a message." When we do talk, she is very open with me. I listen mostly. Her daughter comes in to the office and speaks with me also. She is already speaking of funeral arrangements. This is the same type cancers my sister-in-law was diagnosed with last October. She passed away in May.

Then we have a woman whose ex-husband is in the hospital with failing kidneys and he was diagnosed last week with Multiple Myeloma. They are wanting to give him a stem cell transplant immediately. I do not believe he has even had chemo yet. The daughters want to call me and tell me what the doctors are saying and want advise. His insurance won't pay for it.

Oh, my Lord....my honesty may be too much for these fragile situations. Please guide me in my response.

ChemoSabe has been up at 3:00 a.m. each morning this week. His labs are coming back in tremendous shape. Tomorrow is the last day for Dex and Velcade this week, then we are off for another two weeks. Remember, Velcade is the chemo shot..Dex is steroids.

I honestly do not know how this man keeps on trucking. He is in Shreveport today. He arrived there are 9:00 a.m. and will be back here by 6:00 p.m. It is a four hour drive. He won't spend the night anywhere. He has started up more jobs in the Louisiana area and we have joked about having to possibly move there. We then roll our eyes at each other, laugh and call out names loudly of those a move would affect. Mike, Tommy, Easton, Velta, Betty, Gordon, Teresa, Chaundell, Bud, Sandy... and the list goes on. Guess we could take them with us! NOT.... We are too old to move anyway.

His six month testing begins again on the 18th. He will have his first colonoscopy, followed by MRI, bone marrow biopsy and CT scan. We are hoping his 25 lesions have decreased in size this time around. Remember, his last tests showed he still has them, but they are not growing... Good that they aren't, bad that he still has them.

Holiday plans are in the works. Families are antsy about who is doing what and with whom. Time frames are already on a crunch. Tension is in the air. I won't be losing weight because of my eating, but that I will be stretching myself from one location to the other in equal amounts of time. Oh, if it were only that easy.

We are blessed that we have family.

My day off tomorrow is already full of plans. I don't care... I love this weather. I almost rode my bike to work today, but I think it would wrinkle my slacks too much to drape on the chaps. We will be heading out over the weekend.

Get ready for upcoming tests. I haven't given you one in quite some time. It will be loaded with questions. First one back with all the correct answers gets a round trip vacation to the Bahamas!! You are paying, of course.

Have a great day and Love -- Pepper (Thank you for listening. It was consoling)