I’m staring at mom as I type. She’s sleeping in one of Brelle’s nice lounge chairs, not five feet away. I don’t feel comfortable taking my eyes off her these days, especially after yesterday. In fact, this is her first time to be home since about 12:30 yesterday afternoon, when she left for her 1:00 [...]
Yes, I am still here :)) Writing has become a SMIDGE redundant lately, seein’ as my two sidekicks sometimes post two or three times a day. So, I sits and I waits for little morsels of comedy or tragedy to save for my posts; just so I can say to the sisters…face, runts, face! (Lawler’s ain’t [...]
I’m typing as mom watches the Price is Right. She’s sipping a cup of decaf and waiting for Erin to arrive for our morning/afternoon transport to Craig. I’ve been meaning to write for the past six days but haven’t found the time. Since arriving in Denver, it’s been non-stop fiddling. We’ve etched out the slightest [...]
Craig had ANOTHER CT scan today. It was meant to be a quickie–get in and get out–gig, lasting only a few hours from barium chug to the scan. Instead, it was a considerably longer process given the fact that, oh hey–bird on a wire–can’t use the hickman for an IV line like it is supposed [...]
Yesterday, when Jill, Diane and I were helping our Mom into the car, Diane referred to Mom’s defiant left hand as “Leroy”. Wherever there’s opportunity for song, we’ll find it and fill the space with our (somewhat less than harmonic, but always full of fun) voices. I launched into “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown”, changing the [...]
In the world of Cowboy songs, Mom (Pancho) would be the bandit kicking up dust and causing trouble, but in her own western, it’s that wild Lefty that rules the roost (relatively speaking).
Like a disobedient teenager, her left hand has a mind of its own these days. In nearly every moment, she’s gripping something, stroking [...]
Not too long ago, I drove Craig home and put him to bed after a rousing evening of movie watching and festival touring. As days go, this was one extraordinary day for both Craig and Mom.
Craig got a haircut for the first time in 5 weeks. Regardless of the style, he made an appointment and [...]
Chemo Cranky
When one battles a life-threatening disease, you give him or her a LOT of latitude when certain personality traits—that you would otherwise not tolerate—surface. The cranky aspect is a somewhat unspoken detail of our reality, since it’s one we can empathize with and understand. Who wouldn’t be irritable under such circumstances? We certainly don’t blame either Craig [...]
The nighttime is the “write time”, it seems. I’ve just returned from eating dinner with the rents and the sisters. There’s a void with each dinner outing–a glaring hole of “incompleteness”. It slaps you in the face when you request a table of five instead of a table of six. Scents and sights of food make [...]
It has been said that Craig is Chartwell Home Health Service’s record holder for having the most medications (IV mostly) distributed to an “in-home” setting. It takes them the better part of the day to mix Craig’s TPN and prepare his various IV meds. Folks requiring his level of care are usually in the hospital, so says the [...]