Days 4 and 5 have been a rollercoaster.
Sunday started out great. Melissa was feeling pretty good and the boys were still out with us in Boston. We got in plenty of rounds of Clue and Uno to start the morning. My parents came out for a visit, so I was able to escape for a little to meet up with our close friend Rob Miller at his restaurant Dimi’s down the street in Cambridge for some great pizza for lunch.
On my return to Brigham and Women’s things went in the other direction. The boys had returned home and Melissa’s energy began to decline from the chemo. Then a little later we got the heart breaking news that her mother had passed. Melissa is the strongest/toughest woman I’ve ever met, she was emotional but handled the news well considering everything she is dealing with. We’ve been expecting this call and she was at ease knowing her father was at her side when she passed and that she is no longer suffering. She is now determined to fight to be cured in honor of her mother.
I was able to get the hospital chaplain to come up and talk with Meliss and say a prayer for Carol. The staff here has been great and very supportive and sympathetic, I have nothing but great things to say about everyone here. Also the thoughts and prayers have been pouring in from all family and friends and is much appreciated, thank you everyone!
The rest of the night she continued to decline. The chemo is fully saturated in her system now as she’s gets a new dose every six hours around the clock and she’s having more side effects. She was extremely run down and couldn’t sleep, nauseous, vomiting, and lots of trips to the bathroom. I skipped the hotel for the night and the nurses allowed me to crash on the couch so I could sleep by her side.
Monday morning was more of the same. She slept off and on for majority of the morning into lunchtime with the same side effects. Around 1 o’clock physical therapy stopped by and they went for a quick walk so she could be evaluated. She started rebounding afterwards. Since Thursday when she was admitted to BWH she has been wanting an exercise bike for the room although we heard they are not always available. So I’ve been literally asking every Dr, nurse, nutritionist, receptionist, social worker, janitor that I’ve come in contact with asking for the damn bike. Well today, the PT lady was able to get Meliss the bike! She was very excited… She had to complete a trial run with blood pressure and heart monitors on to ensure it was safe to use at low speeds given her blood counts are so low. I cranked a little “Ready or Not” by the Fugees in the background and she passed with flying colors and got a few laughs.
So she’s feeling much better than she did this morning and is back to sleep now (around 7pm) with some meditation music in the background. I’ll have to wake her for dinner in a few and try for another walk and maybe some bike time before bed. Hoping tomorrow she continues to feel better.
