Monday, September 17, 2007

September 17, 2007 - Sleepy Time

I can't believe it's been four days since my last post! Apparently being home is busier than I expected. At the end of every day, I place the blog on one scale and sleepy time on the other. Sleepy time's been winning. Obviously. Sorry about that.

Melisa is doing so well. I know she doesn't feel like she is, but I notice the difference. On Friday, 9/14 she had the pain catheters removed. Since then she's been managing pain with two tablets of Percocet every 4 hours, but you can tell when it's been 3-4 hours. She starts looking uncomfortable and moving around less. Otherwise, she's been up and around much more than I would be.

On Saturday I took the boys out for the day to entertain them (and me) and run errands. We were walking out of AutoZone when a guy in a baseball cap stopped me and asked if I was Miles' husband. I wracked my brain. I had been totally preoccupied and wasn't paying attention. Did he say, "Miles' husband, or my ex-husband?" I was caught off guard and rather than ask him to repeat the question, I said, "Nope" and continued to my car. Suddenly I was struck by a small glimmer of recognition in the dank and musty recesses of my cluttered mind. I thought maybe he looked vaguely familiar. Then Seth asks, "Did he say, 'Are you Mel's husband?'" Crap! I went running back into the store and sure enough, it was Harry. Sorry Harry. It was great to see you, and thanks for covering for Melisa.

That evening my Dad and family came by bearing gifts of cake and stimulating conversation. I know Mel appreciates all the visits. It's nice to have some bursts of human interaction when you've been wrapped in a medicated cocoon of darkness for most of the day.

Sunday the home care nurse came, checked Mel's vitals, and changed her bandages. She'll probably be having the drainage tubes removed this week, which will be nice. I imagine it's kind of confining having miles of tubes wrestling with you through the night. Speaking of wrestling, I took the kids out to the zoo and mall for a big part of the day. So I missed the visit from Amy, which I heard was a party. I'm not surprised and she didn't come empty handed. One of our walls is a kaleidoscope of the cards she brought. Mel is lucky to have such a neat variety of caring, compassionate people to work with. Thanks for coming by Amy.

Our house is layered in flowers and cards. It's kind of nice. Mel's mom has been a godsend, watching kids, cooking, doing laundry, keeping Melisa company. She leaves on Friday, but we already have people asking how they can help. Thanks for keeping in touch and checking in. I'll try not to be such a stranger but if you don't hear from me for a couple of days, you'll know sleepy time won.

p.s. I came home today to a FEAST! Thank you so much Tammy and fam. You're amazing. Not sure how you squeezed us in, between being taxi service and feeding the rest of the county. THESE chocolate chip cookies are MINE. :)



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