Day 3

 Today was yet another long day, but we got to start later than on other days.  He had gotten up in the middle of the night to use the restroom and told me then that he wasn't sure if it was due to the chemo, but that he'd had some whole-body bone and joint pain for a little bit.  He only told me later in the morning that it was for several hours in the night and that it hurt him to even move.  That's on only 2 pills.  I immediately Googled the side effects of the chemo, and that is, in fact, one of the side effects, but it also said to let the doctor know immediately.  Since at that time, I only thought he had it for a very brief time, I let it ride until after he told me in the morning that it had lasted several hours, making it hard for him to sleep.

Because of the pain and difficulty sleeping, we got up a bit later today...that's to say 7 a.m. instead of 6.  He took a shower and went to sleep.  When he woke up later, I fixed us some breakfast.  He was so wiped out from the pain and less sleep that he went back to bed for a little bit until it was time to go to the Cancer Center.

We got there early for labs and he was called back early.  As I'm sitting in the waiting room, I'm noticing all of these other people who arrived after dad was called back, and then later I'd see them leaving and still no dad.  Concerned, I went and found a nurse and inquired.  It turns out the ding-dong nurse from yesterday didn't flush Dad's line after he received blood, which caused the line to plug up.  They had to try and find another vein.  He ended up poked 3 times: once the vein blew, the other started out as a good one but then closed off, I guess.  The one they were able to put the line in was up in the bend of his arm, so now he can't bend it while that line is in.  Because of this delay in getting the line in, we were behind in getting up to the infusion section, which ended up not mattering as we were again two hours after the appointment time before being called back.

He didn't need blood this time, which was a relief.  He just got his nausea meds, chemo shots and a bag of saline.  I'm also trying to make sure he drinks more water and stays better hydrated.  While he was getting the infusion, we put on a baseball game for him to watch and I found a movie to watch on YouTube.  We were finally able to leave around 4:20.

Because Dad was so wiped out today, he let me drive all day (Praise for that!).  As soon as we came back to the room, he went to bed again.  He woke up around 6, in time for me to fix supper.  Today is the first of his 4-pill-a-day regimen.  Praying his pain is minimal, if any at all.

I did get a message this morning from the pharmacist about the Levofloxacin.  He did have the 500 mg, so she just said for him to break those in half and take those until he runs out and then switch over to the 250's.  She also said that the pain is not a "reaction" as I had worded it to her, but a side effect (I thought that was sort of the same thing).  Anyways, she said she's not worried about it but that if the pain gets too bad, for us to let them know and they'll get him some pain meds.  I'm praying that he won't need them, but at least we have options for pain control.

When Dad went to bed, I Facetimed Tim.  I turned the camera around so that he could see our room and I let him say hi to Dad.  I was talking to Jax and he was so cute!!  He couldn't tell what was going on.  He heard my voice and would cock his head from side to side trying to figure out where it was coming from.  Tim did a lot of housework today and going through closets, finally getting rid of a bunch of his shirts.  In going through his clothes (in tubs), he ran across the shirt they had to cut off of Amanda when she died.  He said he had to have a good cry.  He smelled it, trying to catch her scent, but of course, after almost 9 years, there is none.  That, too, made him sad.  It was good to actually see his face and not just call or text.  I miss him, but know I'm where I need to be right now.  I'm so thankful for his love and support, not just for me, but for Dad, too.

Anyway, I took a shower after getting off the phone with Tim as I wanted to make sure I got that out of the way before anything potentially hits tonight with Dad, whatever it may be.  Tomorrow is a new day, starting even later than today.  I'm praying for a good night for us both.  Until later...