A better day...

The last couple days have been, dare I said it, pretty good. Dave has been out of bed more and has gone for some good walks with me and the kids (the library, Ian's school, the grocery store). It has helped that the weather has been more cooperative. He had a CT scan yesterday to check the fluid in his abdomen and get a look at how his swallow function is working (yum, more barium to drink). The surgeon was very pleased with the results. There are no new pockets of fluid, his lungs look great, and he's swallowing perfectly provided he's sitting or standing and not hunched over too much. His list of meds is finally starting to diminish. He's completely off pain meds, the doctor just took him off the oral antibiotics, and he'll get his last dose of IV antibiotics tomorrow morning. There's still a small wad of pills he is taking, but I figure each time we can say goodbye to one more drug, it's a small step in the right direction.

I think it was good for us to talk with his surgeon yesterday because we both got a chance to ask for a bit of a reality check about whether my expectations are reasonable and just how much time he should be out of bed versus the time he spends in bed. I think the hardest thing for me is that right now to him bed seems like a big reward. Go for a walk, reward yourself with a nap. Fold some laundry, take a nap. (I guess I should also say I've never been a napper and I like to stay up late. I remember being about 10 years old and reading that Margaret Thatcher sleeps for only about 4 hours a night and thinking I wanted to be just like her. Unfortunately, I can now say that I've had lots of four-hour nights lately and I pretty much just feel like crap in the morning.) The doctor said if Dave is up and moving around (sitting on the couch doesn't count) at least four separate times for at least 20 minutes each day, I should let him nap as much as he wants the rest of the time. Ok, message received. However, the interesting thing is that I have completely quit giving him "the look" when he's in bed, but he now seems more motivated to get out of bed on his own. Go figure.

That's the end of the Dave update. The next paragraphs are kid bits I can't help but share, so if all you want is the update on Dave, stop reading...right...now.

Last night when I told Ian it was time for a bath, he told me he wanted to be a stroker. I must have given him a quizzical look because then he asked me what the word is for someone who takes their clothes off in front of people. Of course, by this time I'm wondering where he's been picking this stuff up, but I went along with it and offered up the word stripper. A bit more dialogue and I realized he actually meant streaker, not stroker (I could use my imagination to come up with a definition for that) and not stripper. He asked me if I'd ever seen a real streaker. I told him that I hadn't, but that Dave and his brother John were at the last game the Mariners played in the Kingdome before it was imploded and a streaker went running across the field. Dave pipes in with, "Yeah, but he had a sock tied onto his wiener" (yes, proper me, I cringe every time someone uses an incorrect word to describe one's anatomy). About five minutes later, after getting Dave set up in bed with his IV, I find both Ian and Miles naked in the kitchen trying to attach socks to their penises (peni?) with sandwich ties. Never a dull moment.

Molly got her cast off on Monday. Pure trauma. I think the trauma of the saw and the repeat x-ray was far worse than breaking the bone in the first place. And if I thought we might get a break after getting the cast off, I was sadly mistaken. Molly had a slight fever for a couple days and then got a rash that covered her cheeks, arms, and legs. Turns out she has Fifth Disease, which sounds really nasty, but is a very common childhood virus that is typically quite mild and not contagious as soon as the rash appears (really).

Ian barfed at school today and was sent home after lunch. Actually, the nurse drove him home because I was at work and Dave still isn't driving. He seems totally fine. Mainly, he just enjoyed an afternoon on the couch watching a movie and then was back out on the playground this evening.

This morning when I dropped the kids off at school, the power door on our van was getting hung up on something. Miles looked at me and totally seriously said, "Mom, I think this car is getting pretty cruddy. You should list it on Craig's List." Miles and I have been diligently checking Craig's List for the last week or so looking for a bike for him.

Very slowly, I think things are starting to return to something resembling normal. We see the oncologist on Thursday, so we should know then how soon Dave might be starting more chemo. Dave actually read the last couple blog entries (I think he was nudged that way by a friend) and all the recent posts. I'm hopeful he'll take a whack at the keyboard SOON!