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Since our last update, Melody
experienced some mild dehydration and accompanying nausea that was, at times,
downright debilitating. Fortunately, this was finally contained by Friday, and
she had most of that day in some relief. Then, a new suffering took over for the
weekend: constipation and severe stomach pain. Melody
says she preferred this to the nausea, which was THE. WORST.
With the help of smooth move tea and baby Sierra's constipation drops, things
started moving again late on Sunday, providing some relief, with many successful
"events", though nothing she has produced since surgery can compare to her
stellar "productions" before she got sick. (For those of you who know my wife
well, you will know that she has no problem discussing her bowel movements!)
She was able to give herself a shower and wash her hair on Monday, though it was
difficult to find the strength to do it. She is still very weak.
Monday had an additional set of challenges, but it culminated in getting some
serious, good old fashioned Jewish Mama's Chicken Soup and a vegetable puree
from Gayle, Glen's ex and Mel's Mahjong buddy who also happens to be a
nutritionist/dietitian and an excellent cook! Gayle followed Mel's very
restricted low residue/low fodmap diet, so it was both a culinary and a
scientific enterprise. (THANK YOU GAYLE!) Mel took the soup in like the soul
food that it is.
Today, Mel is in considerably less discomfort, but is still "exceedingly" (her
words) weak, spending her days mostly in bed with short walks to the bathroom
and to the kitchen table to eat less of Chris's or Gayle's excellent food than
we'd like. She is starting to eat and drink more now that the nausea has
thankfully passed, so we're hoping to see her continue to rally and regain
strength for chemo.
We are so grateful for you, our friends and family, who are really stepping up
with well wishes, gifts, cards, errands. We have to give another special shout
out to Chris, who is our everything. She continues to wait on Mel hand and foot,
making and delivering food, making drinks, doing laundry, fielding doctor calls
and taking notes, measuring calorie and fiber intake, and generally making Mel
as comfortable as possible.
Chris has made it possible for me to work some, which is helping with my
sanity and keeping my stress level down (I am behind on so much now, the
weight of it had been getting to me).
I am on night duty, which makes for a lot less sleep than needed. Mel wakes
up frequently in the night, and because I am on high alert, I wake up too,
all too frequently to the sound of moaning, which, as you can imagine, is a
whole different kind of pain. I'm also doing the grocery and errand running,
and have taken and will take the twins to school to give Anna a break. I
also have the privilege of keeping you informed, so she doesn't have to -
all the better to rest and heal.
The grandkids will come to see their Bubbe on Thursday for the first time in
over 2 weeks. This is a tradition, where the Whitaker family gets out of their
house on cleaning day and spends it with Bubbe. They all take a COVID test
before coming, and the twins got their 2nd vaccine today. Corey and Anna have
been extraordinarily careful to keep themselves and the kids from exposure to
keep Mel (and Chris, who is also a cancer survivor) safe. Mel will likely stay
in bed, but she looks forward to seeing and hearing the grandkinderlach make
their usual mess in our house!
Mel's plan is to have her hair cut short in advance of her first chemo
visit, which will be next Wednesday, December 15th. Cutting it now will make
it easier to take care of, and since it will fall out anyway, what the hell,
why not? She is, again, just fine with this.
Chris will take a break for a couple of days next week, then come back for
the first week after chemo (we are told this is the worst week). Robin will
step in to give us a hand while Chris is away (BLESS YOU ROBIN!).
Melody wants you all to know how grateful she is (we
are!) for the support and love she has received, and for your offers to
help in any possible way. She's still not able to muster the energy to
return calls, texts or emails yet, and she keeps her phone off most of the
day so she can rest. As previously mentioned, she reads or hears all of your
messages, and will respond when appropriate, when she's stronger.
Finally, please send some love to Melody's mom, who
is having a hard time with this situation, as one might imagine. We love
you, mom!
Unless there are new developments in the interim, my next message will
likely be after her first chemo next week.
We hope you all stay safe and well!
Glen
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