Sunday, December 12, 2010

The New Normal

As you may have already read, Chris had his first chemo treatment on Friday afternoon.  They pumped oodles of poison into him, and then sent him home with a pump and a bag of more poison to be delivered over the following 48 hours. Not fun!  He tolerated it all pretty well...until today.  The side effects they warned us about hit him pretty hard.  He had a little nausea, but mostly he's had extreme fatigue and no appetite.  He's pretty much spent the day in bed.

And what a day it was!  We had quite a storm roll through the region Saturday that dumped somewhere between 16-20 inches of the white stuff on us. It was my turn today to repay Chris for all his wonderful care he gave me when I had my hip replaced last year.  And thankful I am today that I had it done last year, it made 4 hours of snowblowing do-able! 

At a time when I feel so helpless with no control over this situation, being able to get out and do the snowblowing so that Chris could stay in bed helped me to feel a little more in control, even if it was a false sense of control, it was nice for a little while.

The best part of the day was when I got to remove the pump of poison from his chest.  He is no longer tethered to the fanny pack, and I'm sure he will bounce back to normal in the next day or two. Normal...there's an interesting word.  I think this is the new normal for us for a while.  He's going to feel crappy for a day or two after each treatment, and we will adjust accordingly.  I just wish Mother Nature could adjust accordingly as well!  :)

Cancer sucks, but Chris is amazing...his courage through all this is inspiring.  And you all are amazing, and I thank you all for your love, support, unsolicited hugs, and healing thoughts and prayers. 

Julia (and Chris)

5 comments:

DP said...

I thought of you all weekend. I wish we could have visited. Our "party" was Kevin and me, plus his sister and her husband and son. I can't believe they even came out! It was ugly.

Congrats on the snow blowing. I sat inside with a book and checked on Kevin occasionally. I wanted to be outside, however all of the collective snow blowers and the wind made for very low visibility! I hope you had face protection!

big hugs, Dianna

Anonymous said...

Good morning!

Thinking of you Chris! We knew it was going to be rough. I pray the mix hits the mark and shinks that cancer away.

The snow blowing was a drag for sure. I'm just glad no complications requiring a trip downtown occurred.

Chuck and Holl said...

Julia and Chris...

We just learned of this journey that you are all on. Just know that our thoughts and prayers are with you all.

Let us know how we can be of any help!

Chuck and Holly Rietkerk

Anonymous said...

Any new updates? It's been a while and we are concerned. - Jon B.

Anonymous said...

Hi Jon,

Nothing new to report, really. I'll have my next chemo on the 23rd. I'll post something before then. News will be somewhat slow, and center on how I'm reacting to chemo until my next scans, which will be in spring.

Take care and thanks for the concern and good thoughts,
Chris