Day Zero Plus Sixty-seven – A Romantic Walk in the Park & Other Adventures

The hair issue is getting interesting.  It is getting to be, maybe, ¼ inch long and still a mystery color.  Mark thinks it has a reddish appearance like his friend, Eric’s, post-chemo hair color.  It is soooo soft.  I think his mustache area is looking a little dark so he may have to start shaving more regularly. 

We had a couple of medical supply snafus recently.  A supply staffer from Penn Home Infusion calls periodically to make sure we have everything we need.   When she asked whether we had enough “caps,” I thought she meant the caps we use on the IV tubing between infusions.  However, she meant the caps the nurses replace on Jeff’s ports on Mondays and Thursdays when they draw blood from his Hickman catheter.  We had none.  Ooops!  The nurse who came on Thursday had something in her car that would do in a pinch.  It stayed on until Monday.  On Sunday, Jeff’s Aquaguard didn’t seal over his dressing very well and he got his biopatch wet in the shower.  The dressing gets changed on Mondays anyway so Jeff thought it could wait until his regular nurse visit.  However, our supply box had no biopatches!  Nurse Susan had some at home so she stopped back here a second time to do the dressing change.  These nurses do a lot of traveling!  And they take very, very good care of their patients.  Every visit seems to me like special VIP treatment.  Good people.

Keith cleaned Jeff’s work van so that he could drive himself to PT.  Keith rode with him and says he drove well although a careless driver ran a stop sign at the first intersection near our house.  Jeff reported having no trouble getting back in the driver’s seat because “when you ride down the middle of the road, everyone gets out of your way.”  Oh, great.

Following the rainstorm Friday night we watched the little boy across the street splash in the puddles with his dad.  We waved and smiled at Dominic from our picture window.  What nice entertainment!  It was, however, time for a little adventure of our own.     

On Saturday the humidity was way down, enabling us to go for an afternoon walk at Core Creek Park.  I think I wore out Giblet and Jeff.  Both required several stops at benches on the return trip.  Even so, I think Jeff appreciated the change of scenery.  We had several opportunities to sit and enjoy the view of Lake Luxembourg.  Jeff took off his invisible man costume for a picture.

Jeff was a good sport on Sunday when Kerry and Theresa asked if they could come and grill lunch.  We cooked Jeff’s burger inside and put no fresh tomato or lettuce on his (too bad).  We ate outside in the screen house for the first time since Day Zero.  I made Peach Crisp after dinner so Jeff could have another taste of summer.

While I was at work today, Keith and Jeff dreamed up a trip to Cruise Night at Shady Brook Farm.  Jeff called Judy and Mark to see if they could meet us there – Yes! – and then he donned mask and gloves for our adventure.  After the guys ogled the cars and Judy and I caught up on family news, the natural conclusion to the evening’s activities was Shady Brook’s own Uncle Dave’s Ice Cream.  Again, Jeff was a real sport, insisting we go ahead and have a treat while he had bottled water.

I asked Jeff if there was anything he wanted to include in tonight’s blog entry and he said, “how wonderful I am.”  So, I will tell you how wonderful my man is – a model patient and all-around great guy!

Prayer Requests:

For Jeff’s red blood cells to recover.

For Conshohocken Jeff during his days of awaiting transplant.

For Jeff’s donor, so that she knows our gratitude.