December 13, 2008
We have started the infusion for day three and wow! The days have passed quickly and uneventfully. We brought Sandy Schwalen for Thursday and Friday. Sandy loves horses even more than Erin does and taught us the finer points of dressage and equitation. The two of them worked pretty hard on end-of-semester homework, but, of course we had plenty of time to kill, so we managed to play a lot of games and watch a couple of movies, too (Goonies and What's Up Doc?). We also got our grit up and went to the Body Worlds exhibit at the Houston Natural Science Museum on Thursday after chemo. I didn't know whether Erin would appreciate such a disturbingly close up view of human bodies, but I underestimated the middle school fascination with anything even bordering on gross.
Friday went just as smoothly as Thursday, and believe it or not, we made it back to Bryan by 3:30, leaving us the whole evening to live normally. If we hadn't had chemo today, we might have had a chance to meet President Bush who was in town speaking at graduation. Chet Edwards traveled with him from Washington on Air Force One and on the helicopter into College Station, and wrote to check if our schedule coincided with theirs. It didn't so we had to demure--you can't have it all. Chet thought we might try again for a presidential introduction in '09.
Jackson willingly got up early on Saturday morning and made it to our house by about 8:00 so he could drive down to Houston with us this morning and provide the entertainment. I used to think that video gaming was isolating and led to social alienation. With Erin and Jackson in the backseat, I learned my lesson. They each had their own Mac book with their own game playing, but they were so good a multitasking that they followed their own game and each other's game, doing replays, helping each other get through difficult objects, and frequently trading computers on the fly to play each other's games. And the nonstop chatter punctuated by laughs and giggles, wow! I don't want to suggest that your children sign up for chemo, just so they can have fun, but I do want to say that hanging out with your friends sure does ease the day.
Because the nurse and pharmacist were so on the ball today, Erin started hydrating the minute she walked in her room. That means we can start fairly early on Sunday and make it back home for a decently normal evening on Sunday, leaving us only one more day of chemo on Monday. Dr. Russell gave us an early Christmas present on Thursday by giving us a free pass to stay home in Bryan for labs, etc. We will scan on January 2 (I think) and not have an office visit until January 8.
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