There have been several good days in a row this week and I have no words to express just how meaningful each and every second of these have been. Mom’s return to Dana Farber was another whirlwind ride and she, Dad, and I went from a very tearful morning to the best afternoon I can remember in some time.
After Mama Marian’s appointment and the first Avastin infusion we climbed back into the car for the ride back to Connecticut. Thanks to Pat and Steve, we gorged ourselves on sugar cookies and brownies and, on the way home, stopped for dinner at Abigail’s. Mom remarked several times on how good she felt and her spirit was back in full form that evening. We had more brownies and cookies, watched reruns of House, and I got to yell at mom and dad for talking through the show. This really cracks me up because it’s THEIR show and they talk through it and then talk more by asking questions about what they’ve missed. It was a delightfully normal Strange family evening and I realized when I went to bed that night that, for the first time in months, I had forgotten that mom is sick.
Friday morning Jean Miles came from McLean for PT and Mama Marian had a grueling hour of doing all the things we take for granted... putting her foot in the right position to pull herself up on her walker, transferring her weight equally, and getting in and out of bed.
At noon mom’s OT person, Mary, came and helped us further assess how we can make changes around the house to help Mama Marian be more independent. I have informed her that she needs to demonstrate to us that she can be left alone without throwing parties, trashing the house, falling off the couch, etc... before we agree that a home health person does not need to be with her all day. :) She's not thrilled about the idea of having someone around all the time when Dad is at work and the rest of us are away, but she can get a little out of hand with her walker slinging and spider monkey antics.
She continues to feel better and has more energy. As you can see in the picture above, we bundled her up on the deck yesterday so she could be outdoors and with her birds again. And over lunch, we made plans to go to South Carolina for Lorien's 2nd birthday; something we have talked about for months but haven't been so sure about in these past few weeks. Mom has her next Avastin infusion on the 26th and she and Dad will fly down to DC to meet me. From there, we will go to Sumter for a few days to be with Jeff, Dou, Lorien, and some much needed warm weather!
