Friday night we met Judy and Mark for dinner in Newtown. It was nice to have some sister time; I really needed it. On Saturday we visited my parents and then ran errands until Jeff got worn out. We’d bought a pair of dress pants that actually fits his new svelte bod! Then we went home for a well-deserved nap (well, one of us napped) before Dinner Club in the evening. Our Dinner Club friends were very glad to see Jeff looking so well. He had been given the honor of selecting the menu for this occasion, even though the Walshes hosted. He chose an Oktoberfest theme so we had beer-cheese fondue with pretzels und apples. We had brats und wursts und cabbage in various forms, spaetzle und German potato salad, fried kraut balls und we made Blitzkuchen for dessert.
On Sunday we went to church with Kim in Philadelphia, then out for brunch and to the Magic Garden http://www.phillymagicgardens.org/. Kim and I were sensitive to Jeff’s toe trouble and tried to park fairly close to the restaurant, Mixto, and the Magic Garden. He did pretty well and reported that his toe is 99% better just because the darn toenail isn’t dangling. The weak chemo lines on his fingernails are catching on fabrics – annoying.
Last night, Nurse Gwen called to tell Jeff when she would be coming this morning. She asked him whether he’d noticed that last week she was wearing her shirt inside out. He said he hadn’t. She explained that her dog had jumped up on her and muddied her clothes as she was walking out the door and so she threw on a clean shirt. It wasn’t until she was half-way through her calls that she realized her shirt was on inside out and backwards. When Gwen arrived this morning, Jeff said, “Were there any wardrobe malfunctions today?” She laughed. My impression of Gwen, on our first and only meeting a few weeks ago, is that she is a bubbly 50-something woman with a gift for tending to the emotional side of things. She has twice now had trouble drawing blood from Jeff’s Hickman catheter although the same device does not seem to cause difficulty for any of the other nurses. We like Gwen. Instead of calling for a pick-up for Jeff’s blood, Gwen carried it to the city today. Results were posted online by 2:30 p.m.
The numbers looked really good to me, including Hemoglobin at 12.4, the highest yet.
Nurse Heather called from Dr. Porter’s office today. She had consulted with Dr. Porter about removing Jeff’s Hickman catheter. She and Jeff discussed the pros and cons of removing it earlier rather than later and came up with a compromise. Heather scheduled it for October 28th, the day of Jeff’s next scheduled visit with Dr. Porter. Once the Hickman is out, Jeff will have to drive to a lab twice a week for his bloodwork. Heather said today’s numbers were “excellent.” Jeff’s liver panel showed all good numbers (despite the jokes that were made at Dinner Club over the small quantity of beer and Jaegermeister Jeff enjoyed and the potential for bad results on his liver panel). Heather said some of her patients seem to have no problem at all with the removal of their catheters and others are bothered by it because they can feel it squiggle through. Jeff’s goes over his clavicle which some of the nurses have mentioned is a little unusual. Most patients say it is not as painful as having it put in. Jeff was relieved to hear that because he did not think it was too bad a procedure, going in.
This afternoon Jeff was on duty at the Pumpkin Patch at church. I teased him that this is the job the old people in the congregation get and, unlike Boy Scout Christmas Tree Sales that you can give up once your sons have grown up, the Pumpkin Patch is a volunteer job you are stuck with for the rest of your life. Jeff said that after 12 years of Boy Scout tree sales, he had to catch himself from saying, “Merry Christmas!” whenever he sold a pumpkin. At least you don’t have to tie them on the cars.
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