The Day After

First day of chemo is behind us. Funny thing – it actually turned out to be quite pleasant. The most discomfort Vicky had was a headache and a general restlessness.

The restlessness wasn’t unexpected. When the sun comes up, Vicky’s up, and she can’t bear the thought of resting until the sun goes down again. She’s perfectly fine if someone else might want to take a nap on Sunday afternoon (like, for example, her husband), and sometimes she might even give it the old college try herself.

It’s kind of funny to watch her try to take a nap. She gets in the bed, looks at her Kindle for a while, then pulls her latest book off the shelf and reads that for a while, puts it back, lays there looking at the ceiling for a few minutes, and then gets up.

Who can argue with that for pure efficiency?

Today – the day after – she has stayed true to form. Got up early, did the dishes (which her husband should have done yesterday), tinkered around the house, doing little things like tearing the dishwasher apart and completely cleaning the motor and water delivery assemblies. You know, little things.

Tonight, David brought chicken noodle soup, artisan bread and grapes for dinner. He's awesome that way. Here he is cleaning up:

Vicky loved the dinner. She was a little late getting to the table because she was having a nice talk with her sister-in-law Lynne, who, just this week, is 5 years cancer-free. Yay, Lynne!

But all of this napping without sleeping, and sleepless nights, and the new chemical visitors in her body started taking their toll toward the end of dinner...

Vicky went off to bed (not to sleep of course) after giving Parker and David and I some final instructions on how some furniture she wanted moved. Nothing much, just

* Grandfather clock from the basement into the dining room

* Two hutches from Parker's studio into the sewing room

* Bed and upright freezer from the basement to the garage

* Cedar chest from the master closet to the garage

Parker had been preparing the furniture for moving earlier in the day. And then we got busy. 

David and Parker worked hard...

harder...

hardest.

You can just see the muscles rippling.

And then Vicky came out for a celebration when all we had left to move was the clock...

She's tired, yes. Her skin is a little flushed. 

But she has some loving sons and stuff to move and good food to eat. And a newly-earned knowledge that the first day of chemo is nothing compared to being surrounded by sons who are willing to cook and bend their backs to show her how much they love her. 

Not bad for a second day.

I love the poem The Candle, by Carol Lynn Pearson

I dim, 

I dim,

I have no doubt

If someone blew

I would go out.

I did not.

I must be brighter 

Than I thought.