This was the second day with Mel gone and today I pushed myself probably more than I have for the last couple of weeks. I ran to Tarini’s this morning quickly to buy some meat and then to the grocery store to buy buns for dinner tonight. This afternoon I had an appointment at the hospital with the social worker as well as an appointment for blood work. I tried to park in the Rehabilitaton parking lot but it was full as well as the Cancer center parking lot. I had to then park in the main parking lot in front of the hospital. It is quite the walk to the cancer center from there as well as to supportive care and I was a bit nervous if I would be too tired to do that, so I opted to use the wheelchair just in case. When I was in the elevator, one of the volunteers asked me how I moved around the wheelchair as all of the tires on it are small and that generally means the wheelchair is made for portering. I told her that it was electric and that I could move myself around. She was impressed with how compact it was. I will admit that though I could get it in and out of the van, it was not super easy for me to do. This evening I had a meeting and I managed to attend and was able to walk around for a site visit for 90 minutes and I did not struggle at all with it, which was nice. Coming home I was not too tired but after my shower this evening I noticed that my feet are significantly swollen. Last night I did not sleep with my feet elevated, which is weird because Mel is not home so I can actually sleep with the bed in zero gravity mode, which I prefer. I have gained 5 lbs since my last weigh i and looking at my stomach it is a bit extended, so I believe that I am starting to get some more fluid build up in my abdomen, but it has not impaired my ability to eat at the moment.
While I was out this evening I had a visit from my friend who is a pharmacist. There is a certain drug that I need prior to my cancer appointment and the cancer center had called me this afternoon and asked me if I had the drugs that I needed and I told them no. So they put in the order for me, but it was late in the day and I was not sure how quick they would actually do it. Well I had a delivery from him with the drugs and with some homemade soup which I appreciate. I noticed it when I opened the fridge this evening and saw a jar that I had not seen before. I am quite appreciative of all the support that I have. It is crazy how much help we have and how people will do extra small things to help out. Today Olivier had a bit of a rough day at school. He got hit in the head with a soccer ball and went to the office where they told me that he wanted to go home because he had a headache and was not feeling well. The only issue is that I was chatting with my dietician at the time, so I had to cut that conversation short and take the call. I called my mother-in-law to see if she could go pick him up and take him home, but she had to pick up her other grandkids from school so she was unavailable. I called my parents and they went to pick him up and bring him home. It was great that they were able to do that. I think I had mentioned that on the weekend my parents had brought over a ton of mangoes and when they came on Monday I told them that we had not finished them all and we had 5 left, so not to bring more. When I came home this evening and I was walking by the fruit I noticed that it was full of mangoes. They must have brought a dozen for us. Good thing I told them that we had enough on Monday and not to bring more. I forgot to tell them not to bring something tonight. I am surprised that they did not bring dinner either. They secretly bring so much food at a time and we can not keep up with it all of the time. If i had known I would ahve distributed some of it to the kids on the hockey team. I think that tomorrow I will cut some up and bring them with me to the Cancer Center when I go in for treatment. Right now what I am planning to bring for snacks is Gatorade, jambon buerre on a baguette, mango and perhaps some yogurt. I will be there for approximately 4 hours so I figure that I should be ok with that amount of food.
I have been quite impressed with the boys while Mel has been away. They have been awesome where they both have made their own lunches and they have both did dishes without complaint. When I need assistance they help without any complaint and they do check in with me every once in a while. I am not sure if Mel told them to or not, but they have. The two of them have gotten along well and have not fought at all, which is nice. For dinner they have managed to reheat their dinners as they have eaten at different times than I have for both days. There has not been any need for prompting them to do things, they understand what needs to be done and they have done it. I am pretty sure though that when Mel comes home that this will not continue and they will revert to being normal, but for now I appreciate that they have not put any additional strain on myself. My mouth sores are almost healed completely, but certain textures have not sat well in my mouth so eating some things has not been super pleasant for me. I am still also getting up during the night every 3 hours, so that is still a bit of an issue. Even with everything that I have done today I did not take a nap. I had my coffee at 5:30 though when I normally take a nap. I am not exactly sure what we will have for dinner tomorrow. I told my parents that i did not want them to bring dinner. We have a bunch of soups in the fridge and I think that I will see about having grilled cheese and some soup. If my parents found out they would be disappointed as I am taking a page out of Mel’s playbook. I am clearly not as fatigued today as I have been able to cognitively think more in the evening to reflect on things. I am starting to gain more energy which is nice, hopefully after my visit with the doctor tomorrow and my chemotherapy treatment I can maintain this energy level for the next couple of days. I am not sure if I like the Wednesday appointments for Chemotherapy. It means that I will have a nurse come on the weekend to give me my shot, instead of on Friday.
QHM