I’m using dates exclusively for the post titles now for two reasons. To keep track of what the damn date IS, and because the fun of coming up with a creative title went out the window….

I got 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep last night and it was glorious. I don’t feel any more rested though. Maybe after a second night I will….. Hard to believe that’s a possibility! Okay, I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I tried one of mom’s sleeping pills. Purely for scientific purposes. Yeah, right! I didn’t trust myself to turn my mind off and actually sleep. Honestly as I was drifting off, all I could think of was, wow, I hate the way this pill makes me feel. It made my whole body feel numb, but not in a good way. I swear I will never do that again!

As I sit here on my beautiful patio drinking coffee and looking out at the desert and my swimming pool, I realize how much I don’t ever want to live in the city again. It’s hotter down there. You don’t get the breezes you get up here. Or the peace and quiet…. I always thought when we get old and all the freaking stairs in our house get to be too much, we’d just move in to mom’s house. That’s definitely not gonna happen! Just cooking in her kitchen is tough-not enough counter space-too closed off! I am suddenly appreciating everything and everyone in my life. God, that sounds sappy-I almost hate to even write it. I usually roll my eyes when I hear someone say that kind of thing….but maybe it was just time for me to get it.

I got to mom’s after stopping at Avella to pick up the rest of the chemo drugs. She was visiting with her former neighbor and friend, Steve. We talked about what Iris had to say last night and she, too, was relieved. After Steve left we got her ready for her big day. As I was getting her ready, I told her that her feet and legs looked puffy. It was the first time I noticed it. Anyway she had a 10:00a.m. occupational therapy appointment, followed by lunch, radiation and a Dr Schroeder appointment. He said she still couldn’t wash her hair. Oh well…. the radiation tech also noticed her puffiness and got her right in to the nurse practitioner to check it out. The worry is a blood clot, or dvt. So after the 2:30 spot with Schroeder we had a 2:50 ultrasound appointment across town. Unless we are beamed, that’s unlikely. But off we went. It took almost two hours for the whole ultrasound, which drove mom crazy, but we had to wait until the results were transmitted to CNS, and then they let us go.

Cool. We went home and I told mom to get in bed for her nap while I started dinner. She’s been excited all day about the bratwurst, sauerkraut and mashed potato dinner I had planned for her. Hell, she deserved it. Last night was cashew tofu and edamame fried rice. Not her favorite. But, hey you can’t eat that unhealthy stuff every day. While she was napping, I got a call from Dr. Sanan from CNS. They found a blood clot in her calf. He would do a direct admit, which means he sets everything up, TMC calls with a room number, we walk in and hit the call button. Bam, she’s in. And that’s how it worked. Seamlessly. But, she is in the hospital. Again. However, she is supposed to just be there overnight. Which we hope really happens, She immediately told the nurse to get started with whatever they need to do, because she was planning on being at Sushi Garden to meet her friends at noon tomorrow. She has a craving for shrimp. I’ll let you know how that goes.