The End of Week #4

Today marks the end of the fourth week of treatment. From now on it's going to be mainly downhill or, as the doctor says, the beginning of the "really bad part." How cheering! But at least that gives us some idea of what's in store. The radiology folk have all said that Jim has done very well up until now; still eating, not (too) nauseated, no great weight loss. The accumulated radiation will begin to wear on him and he will become much more fatigued. He did take a short nap today and work feeling better. He is now popping Vicodin frequently but pain still registers at about a 6 on a 1-10 scale. So tomorrow the doc will probably prescribe some stronger pain medication. Also tomorrow begins a new appointment time, a bit earlier in the morning. It takes him about two hours to get ready to go, or at least to feel ready to greet his public! I have the driving duty. I wait in the parking lot while he is getting treated, doing my needlework -- a Bargello pillow to commemorate this experience in our lives -- and listening to a book on tape, currently Salman Rushdie's "The Satanic Verses." Hilariously funny, enhanced by the reader who has a wonderful voice and a real flair for accents. Next project is a book by the Egyptian Nobelist Nagib Mafouz.

While Jim was getting chemo last week I went shopping. Well, how else should I spend 3 hours?. I saw a pair of shoes that made me laugh out loud. Nothing would do but I must have them to wear to cheer me up. Here they are!
In fact when I was in the waiting room this morning another "waiter" commented that they were certainly "cheerful" shoes. That made even Jim smile, and believe me, it's hard for him to smile at anything these days.

Yesterday afternoon I cut back the bushy sage plant on the side of the house. I carefully preserved all the leaves to harvest and dry. That is Jim's job this afternoon. He is plucking all the leaves off and spreading them on newspapers to dry. In a few days we will package them up in zip lock bags and stow them away for use throughout the winter. Some we will crush, some leave whole. Of course, I'm the only one who can taste them. Oh well. . .

It's getting cooler every day. The dog across the street is beginning to get his winter coat. Likewise Fonzie, a Wheaton Terrier down the road is looking bushier. The Chinese Pistache trees are turning a brilliant orange -- this is what passes for "fall color" in Davis. On my walk this morning I saw a whole yard full of pumpkins, store-bought but colorful nonetheless. School kids are riding off bundled up, even though it gets up to the low 80's during the day. Even students waiting at the bus stops have changed their cut-off shorts and tank tops for long jeans and down vests. Of course, that's over tank tops.

The patient ate a good dinner; shrimp, pasta, veggies. He has had his evening walk around the neighborhood, taken his pills and is ready for bed. Gosh, I can't believe this is Jim I'm talking about.