We got back around dinner time on Thursday, and early the next morning Devon was off to Spokane, Washington for the day for work. I managed to get us unpacked on Thursday night, then spent the better part of Friday on the phone with various doctor offices, insurance company people, and durable medical equipment suppliers. ~5 hours to be exact! Bleck. At least I got it all dealt with before the weekend and could have a somewhat clear head for Saturday & Sunday (but still lots to do). Nana Noma came over to hang out with the girls -- they hadn't seen each other for 9 days, so there was a lot of catching up to do.
On Saturday my dad (grandpa Gary) & grandma Kay came for a visit. We BBQ-ed, then roasted smore's in the new fire pit Devon got for Christmas (but just got all set up that day). Kelly & Kate, and neighbors Galen, Sean, & Sarah joined us for the backyard treat, and the kids really had a great time playing together. It's so nice to see them old enough to interact for hours at a time (finally).
Grandpa Gary getting some snuggle time in with Jordan, in the shadow of the playset he put together last summer (after Devon & grandpa Earl dismantled it and moved it to our house from our friends Heather & Sam's house).
Sarah, Kate, Avery, & Sean enjoying the warm evening, and burning off all that marshmallow & chocolate energy. 
This morning grandpa Gary & grandma Kay headed up to Seattle, so he can begin a clinical trial treatment for Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS), a type of blood cancer. It's been a long 9 months for grandpa Gary. Before entering the trial study he had to get rid of another cancer they found back in December: Gastric MALT Lymphoma (or MALT Lymphoma). After a series of antibiotic shots, and then 17 radiation treatments, that cancer has been "cured," and now it's time to move onto the big one. He's got a great attitude and outlook, despite the illness from the radiation, soreness from 2 bone marrow cores (and at least one more to come), and, so far, 29 blood transfusions to keep him going. We're really hoping that his MDS will go into remission with the clinical trial treatment (antithymocyte globulin and etanercept shots), and he will avoid an allogenic stem cell transplantation. The clinical trial treatment has a statistical success rate of 50%, and, as luck would have it, Seattle's own Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center & University of Washington are running this clinical trial -- and Fred Hutch is arguably the best cancer center in the country for treating MDS.
After they left, Devon went to work (ENVIRON work that had been miles from his mind over the last two weeks) writing a few reports due on Monday morning, while I plowed through the rest of my list of things to get done before the week starts tomorrow. But by ~noon I was itchin' to get outside and DO something. So, I painted the 'new' construction areas (from Oct/Nov 2006) of the house, while Devon wrote his reports & watched Jordan, and Avery spent the afternoon with nana Noma & Sushi, Dorothy's new bowl-mate (they're goldfish if you hadn't guessed). Later, in a complete twist of "traditional" roles, Devon did the grocery shopping, went shoe shopping, and even made a Target run before picking Avery up at nana Noma's. Then he came home and made dinner. All the while I primed & painted outside in the blazing, blinding sun. We've never been much for traditional roles!
One coat of primer and one coat of red down, one more coat of red to go, and then time to move onto the white trim around the windows & door.
Devon even put Avery to bed (oops, at 6:30pm, when he sent her to her room for a 3 minute time out, and she was snoring by the time the 3 minutes were up! Unfortunately she woke up at 8:30pm & wanted dinner, but was back to bed and asleep by 10:00pm), and gave Jordan a bath with her spiffy new bath seat* -- while I painted. . . (okay, I admit it, I really like painting!).
*Bathing Jordan, now 26.5 pounds, was getting to be a real chore in our deep bathtub. She wasn't comfortable, and was always arching and practically trying to drown herself in the process. It took at least 2 hands to hang onto her, so getting the washing done was really a task! We tried to get her a bath seat through out insurance, but they said it wasn't covered. The DME company said we could buy it private pay, for $1350.00. Now why would I do that when I can buy one on line, brand new, for $229 (no shipping, no tax)????? So, I ordered it before we left for Alaska & it was here waiting for her when we got back. It can hold up to 120 pounds, so I'm imagining we'll get our money's worth out of it. It's much easier to reach her, and she's much more comfortable on it, so bath times don't have to be total wrestling matches anymore.
No comments:
Post a Comment