December 1, 2020

-

A long day sitting around, doing not much of anything!

Up early and out the door by 630.  A drive in the dark with snow blowing this way and that.  Sometimes the roads were clear, other times, not so much.

Beautiful though, the dark tree trunks and the white treetops, nice contrast.

Finger poke and up to clinic.  Marlon's blood levels are improving quite a bit.  The neutrophils that stopped him the last two times are back up, still low at 0.6 but over the 0.5 needed.  So Marlon was accessed and we sat around and waited for his turn to go to procedure room.  And waited, and waited.  Much longer than usual.  There were 7 kids sitting around waiting for procedures.  Close to midday the doctor came and made an announcement that there had been an emergency in the procedure room.  She didn't know what would end up happening.  Just imagining that finally Marlon is ready, and something else gets in the way.  Finally though at 1pm it was our turn.  Marlon is so comfortable with the sedation routine.  I didn't feel as freaked out today as I often do.  He drifts off, I leave the room and about 5 minutes later he is wheeled out.  About 30 minutes later he starts to wake up.  He was saying sedation didn't last as long, and he still had to have the procedure.  I told him it was all done.  I wheeled Marlon out.  Nice to see that he didn't really want to go in the wheelchair whereas not long ago he wouldn't go without.  I was concerned he might still be a bit woozy after sedation.  He was tired but just fine.  He had his first meal of the day at 3 when we got home, Pita Pit, as per his request.  Then he had a long dose of minecraft time with friends.  He can feel his back where the needle was inserted to extract the marrow.  And when he got into bed it hurt to lie on his back but he is handling it much better than in the past.

Free from the hospital until next Tuesday.  Lumbar puncture, so another sedation, and the results of today's marrow. Based on the last test results, I trust this one should be fairly clear again.

Today's picture has nothing to do with us and is a few years old.  Created with playdough, by one of Linsy's friends.  Very impressive likeness of the Beatles.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

November 10, 2022 (2)

-
Image
Today, I dropped Marlon off at outdoor school and met up with a friend I have only seen a handful of times in the last 20+ years.  She was in the area for the passing of a family member. i then went for a walk with Mina.  I watched and she poised herself in hunting position and pounced.  I saw a squirrel run up a tiny little tree but also heard this pitiful whining.  At first, confused, I wondered if she had pounced on a nest in the ground.  But the dog ran to me, crying and whining, holding up her paw.  We were a ways from home and she hobbled carefully home after we sat for a while and she calmed down.  She will often run the perimeter of fields, running this way and that.  I saw her longing to run the field as we made our way back but she was uncomfortable and limping. A short while later, I went to pick up Marlon and watched in amazement as he hobbled to the car.  Yes, he had hurt his foot within an hour of the dog hurting herself.  Both boy and dog are limping.  Just as they were
Read more

July 7, 2022

-
Image
On May 23rd, the week before the chemo that weakened Marlon enough to put him in the hospital, the dog, the boy, and I drove to Montreal. (I am aware of the use of the word 'go' when writing. In German, the verb 'to go' means walking. You don't 'go' in a car.) Before we left, as I was packing up the car, I noticed a fair sized spider web between the driver's side view mirror and the car. I left it alone, figuring the wind would blow it off. It was so nice to see Linsy and Moira and spend time with them. I have missed having Linsy around. It was neat that, when we got there, Olivia, Jamey, and Roka, their dog, were there. They live 15 minutes away from us but were there visiting their son. Mina was definitely happy to see Roka (and all the others too).   Mina got used to walking on sidewalks and being in the city. Other people and dogs, not so much. Moira has given me a belt with a dog lead on it for hands-free walking. It worked but was even bett
Read more

July 5, 2022

-
Image
Decision was made that Marlon was to go check blood counts on Monday.  We drove down to Hamilton together, quick finger poke, and then leave again.  A couple of times, we drove around the parking garage for almost a half-hour looking for a spot, but Monday was smooth.  Busy place. Blood counts are good so dental work begins.  Marlon's doctor was impressed with the dentist when she spoke with him last week.  In support, I sit next to him in the dentist's room and hope my own anxiety, discomfort, and fear don't affect him. Halfway through the drilling of four teeth which was quite intense, they took a little break to check in with Marlon and see if he was up to continue.  He agreed to do more but said he was most concerned about the tastes of the filling material.  With the pain and discomfort of the first part, one would think that would be the least of his worries but he is very sensitive to taste and flavour.  As it turned out he didn't gag or react too strongly so I g
Read more