The Next Chapter

Okay.
I haven't updated for a while.
In part because we were in that waiting holding pattern. But we got cut short two weeks early.
Matt had some serious bowel trouble, so they installed a colostomy. That happened, about a week ago Friday. He's been in the hospital, and coming back to speed very slowly. He's in a lot of pain.

But for some reason the hospital really, really wants to get rid of him.  Matt is convinced it's all about insurance... which seems off because our other hospital was not in a hurry when we had all this bleeding and cancer stuff.  Matt is a paying customer, so... reasons?

Friends inside the biz tell me it's not so much because of insurance, but because SARS is a thing.
And hospitals are dirty. And colostomy patients have bits of their insides on the outside... more or less.
And that bag is only mils thick when you think about it.  I certainly don't want to, and I'm sorry you have to.

And because I was having... emotional difficulty, I only had one day to prepare the house to get him back.
I've been a nervous wreck merely over the idea of having strangers in my house.  Matt doesn't mind, so it shouldn't matter...

But I decided the only way to deal with it was to really clean the bedroom. I mean, really. Not merely make the rest of the house functional, but really do a job on it.  I can do the kitchen later. It's not like Matt will be spending most of his time there.

In two weeks we'll be having a Real Appointment TM with the oncologist. That's when we schedule the PET scan and find out exactly how much progress we've made.

Thanks for paying attention.  I keep saying this but I will really try to update more often.

August 16.

Waiting.
We now have two weeks until we do the big evaluation.
Matt is working again. He is also sleeping a lot, and having some incontinence issues which makes dressing changes... interesting. He is also having longer lucid periods that make it possible to work well. I'm glad the doctor let him, if a little surprised it's actually happening.

Doc says that healing is proceeding a pace. We still can't tell if the cancer is thoroughly licked yet,
but there is nothing to say yet that it won't be. We should be seeing some serious progress in the next two weeks. He said it was over 90% gone.  But the last part is the root of the thing, and that is a bit of a different animal. he didn't say it, but the implication was there.

IF there are some healing issues with various challenges at this point, we may have to do some things that
 kind of freak  me out. Ostomy.  The c word. Yeah, not happy with that idea, though as a temporary measure I could deal. Oh, who am I kidding. If he needed one for the rest of his life, I could deal with that.
It would be hard, but I would deal.  But I can't say I'd look forward to it.

Because dad had one before he died. And yes, I have dad issues. I'm sure that doesn't make me special.

Things are so nebulous and uncertain that it's hard to blog about it.

I have some very good friends who cheer me up, and talk to me when I'm crazy.  They have really helped me out. You know who you are, and I love you guys. I'm serious. After this we may as well reboot civilization together. You can handle it, I'm sure.

At some point, when I'm not super tired, I will regale you with the tale of my four hour visit to the
wound clinic.  Wonderful people, severely understaffed. I wonder if there was a game that day, and only the dedicated punched in.

This has been your update. Fare well, and good night.