Day 1.

Some History

I admit I did not start this blog on the day we got the diagnosis.  It has already been two weeks since then. Mostly what they treated was blood loss. In fact, Hospital II happened because the Paramedic claimed he was concerned Matt would bleed out before we'd make it to the Hospital further out.

Fortunately, they figured it out. And Matt had internet access to spare his sanity. Did I mention he got work done while in the hospital?  It was a bit easier after two... or was it three bags of blood?
The schedule is right, his pallor is correct, but he really is too hairy to be a vampire.

It would be interesting to see what chemo and radiation would do to a vampire. [scribbles notes] Ahem. Now, where was I?  On Thursday he had his first chemo, the big bad where I had to stay at least 5 feet away and not touch any bodily fluids for at least 24 hours. They tossed me out of the room when they did his dressings.  Not to give anybody a break, then they put him down for a port placement, and he is wired for sound and video.  On the good side, he doesn't need to be constantly prodded for blood anymore. So... part Vampire, part cyborg?  I wonder if he's USB2 compatible...

Oh, and then they hit him with Rads.  Matt says it looks just like what you'd expect Science Fiction writers to come up with when describing nuclear medicine of The Future. Robotic arms, green lasers aiming in non obvious directions, futuristic beeping sounds and everything.  Matt enthused about this, and even caught one of the guys giving him that knowing grin. Later he admitted that jobs day with his children is, actually pretty awesome.  After all, he get to shoot Radioactive Beams at people-- saving their lives, and make a living at it!  That's almost as good as chucking explosives out the windows of helicopters over mountain ranges to trigger avalanches.  Or identifying as an Abrams Tank.  ;)

Then, on Friday, the computers were completely off line. The Rad Radiation guys were canceled. And we waited like Rick and Ilsa for Matt to go home. I'd been warned that Chemo and Rads would affect him strongly...

And this completely leaves out my oddessy with laundry, losing my dark load with the socks... I'm sure I did more than the ill fated sheet washing expedition and visit Matt, but the rest is frankly a blur.

Friday night was a very challenging thing.  But we got through it. Most of it was crap going on in my head, after seeing him so tired he seemed child like. I was a bit worried I wouldn't get him back until after the (approximately)  six weeks of treatment.

This all changed after 16 hours of sleep, and an infusion of sanity.  Yaay marriage!

This is his first complete day home from Hospital II, complete with cancer diagnosis.

Today is a Saturday.  Matt had our full on contingency talk, and I was greatly relieved about everything.  Then the bleeding started again. Fortunately, nothing like what we'd seen that sent him to the hospital, but alarming enough to be very draining in more ways than one.

  The rest of the day was equally divided between shopping (and going back for forgotten things) and dealing with bloody surgery grade dressings.  Then I had to call my folks and tell them what has been going on for the past two weeks, and remind my brother of a project with a friend of mine...

And hopefully that will still work out. The whole family is sick... and having to do both at the same time was sub-optimal to say the least.  I feel like I let a friend down, and I really, really hate that.  And no, I don't want to use the handy excuses to hand.  Because it seems manipulative and mean.

We'll see what Sunday brings.

The funny thing is, what happened today doesn't seem like much. But living it is a different story.