Happy Ground Hog Day! As of this writing, I have no idea what’s
been going on back in Punxsutawney, PA., home of that famous woodchuck who is
so good at forecasting the weather. But
I can tell what we’ve been up to, in Shoreline, WA. It’s pretty quiet around here. Daniel has left for the gym. Renee has left for a babysitting gig and
Gabrielle is peacefully resting on the couch after her first big outing since
all this began. We actually went to a
movie today: Argo. It was great. Spoiler alert….nah, just kidding…I won’t tell
you about the movie, but we did indeed enjoy it. At the start, I led Gabrielle past the snack
bar and waved my arm in a sweeping motion is if I were pharaoh waving to his
people. I told Gabrielle, that she was
my princess and that as a special treat, one time only, I would buy her
anything she wanted: Dots, a hot dog (or two), “nachos” with that oh-so-tasty
fake cheese, popcorn. Didn’t get a
nibble on any of it. She just wanted to
head in to the movie. Shortly after
sitting down, she whispered in my ear, “what’s that awful smell?” It was fresh movie house popcorn two rows
back and it smelled oh so tempting (at least to me). Not to her.
She almost made us move farther away.
Yep, I guess that ol’ chemo can wreak havoc on your taste buds and the
old schnozzola as well.
As I said, things are quiet around here, but we’ve
got a rather strange sight out the window that I just have to tell you
about. It’s dark, but an eerie red glow is coming
from a 12 foot tall inflatable Santa Claus from the house across the
street. He’s all lit up as if the house
is still in the running for best Christmas décor on the block. Everybody else around has taken their Christmas
lights down. I managed that feat last
weekend in the rain. Good timing. The puzzling thing about this Santa fellow is
that, honest to goodness, he wasn’t there yesterday, nor all season for that
matter, as far as I can tell. Why’d he
show up now? That’s what I’d like to
know.
Well, I’ve got my own theory: Santa’s coming! And he just had to wait till all the hoopla
of Christmas with all its gaudy commercialization died down till he could make
his appearance and deliver the goods.
And, boy has he come through for us, once again. Take this afternoon for instance. When we got home from the movie (you sure you
don’t want me to let you know how the movie ends?), there was a wonderful meal
waiting for us from Gabrielle’s friend Karen.
Thank you so much! As soon as I’m
done here, we’re going to dive into that chicken soup, salad, homemade bread
and brownies. Can’t wait…am writing as
fast as I can.
Two days ago, we got a package in the mail. It was from Janet in California and was full
of all sorts of goodies which Gabrielle mentioned in a previous post. What she didn’t mention was that one of the
items that Janet sent was a bag of dried up green stuff. I got home just as Gabrielle had finished
chopping it up and smoking some of it. She looked rather disappointed that she was
still nauseous. To add insult to injury,
she was turning several shades of green herself. I took a look at the stuff and told her it
wasn’t the much coveted medical marijuana but kale chips. Just as well. Who needs it, when you’ve got healthy stuff
like kale and chicken soup to nosh on?
Just kidding…this is a non-smoking, non-doped up house!
I got an e-mail from a kindly patient today, N. (no HIPPA violations for me...who knows, it may not even be his or her real initial),
who sent along an Amazon gift card.
I also had a great visit with my mom today who showered me with warmth, a meat pie from the British pastry shop and hot coffee (actually didn't shower in it, that was a figure of speech). It was relaxing sitting by her fire and having a chance to just unwind. Oh, and she assured me there is no burn ban, so if the feds come, she made me light the fire, honest. Older brother John's on the other side of the state, so I can't blame him like I prefer to do. So many people have been so nice to us.
But, back to Gabrielle’s health, which is the real
reason we’re keeping this blog going.
Today’s been pretty good.
Diarrhea is slowing way down and we got a call from Dr. Sato that she
does not have C. diff, which is a huge answer to prayer. Also, since she only had one medicine in the
chemo session yesterday, she is not feeling as lousy as last Saturday about this
time. So, that’s two sessions down, 16
to go.
Now, if I can just keep Gabrielle from smoking the
rest of the kale, I think I will put some of Orville Redenbacher’s “Movie Time”
popcorn into the microwave just to tempt her a little more, gets those gastric
juices flowing…
Thank you for clarifying that I mailed KALE chips. We don't need any more suspicion thrown our way since we already have three greenhouses on our property and I think the penalty for mailing pot across state lines is seriously frowned upon. I think that had something to do with the local UPS store getting closed down...
ReplyDeleteSo glad to hear you got to the movies and had a reasonably good day. I was hoping one of you culinary experts would make Gaby a lemon pie with those meyer lemons. Citrus is supposed to increase appetite (I had to research all that for my dad a few years ago). And next time don't take no for an answer. Her price for movie entrance is to EAT something, even if she has to pinch her nose closed to do it :-) Eat, eat.
Love and hugs,
Janet
P.S. How's the ink-outlined red spot doing?