Early to bed, early to rise

On Monday nights before Joe's appointments, that saying is quite accurate.  Joe was up at 5:50 am this morning and I followed soon thereafter. We arrived at 7:15am at the  Duke Clinic for his 7:30 labs.  We split at the first floor stairs, me heading for coffee and Joe's lemonade and him to check in.  At 7:40am he was called for his blood work and now we wait for the doctor.  But the real question of the day, whose picture will I take without their knowledge and post?

Dare I say it?  Maybe we are going for another record.  It's 8:00 am and Joe has already had his vitals and we are back in an exam room.   Maybe this week I'll be less than an hour late for work.  Maybe it's because there apparently are not many early appointments as is evident by the nearly empty waiting room pictured here.  

Guess the few here were the lucky photo op people. Regardless, it's fine with me to get it over with quickly, as I'm sure it is with Joe.

While waiting, I’ll digress:  We had a very quiet weekend even though I mowed the front yard on Saturday and the back on Sunday.  It's so much easier and much less of a hassle to split it up.  Thank goodness for a fenced backyard since I can let that go a little longer than I should without our neighbors having to look at it.  The rest of the weekend consisted of me and Joe laying around on the couch watching shows that were DVR'd for the last 2 weeks (with me sleeping through much of it).  Speaking of which, I need some opinions, is it fair to take a picture of a person asleep on the sofa without his knowledge when he is not very well dressed and looks like something out of Lord of the Rings?  I personally don't think so especially when said photo is VERY unflattering.  I would post it but I have to retain some degree of dignity.  Sunday was typical with church arrival at 7:30 am then off to McDonalds for breakfast between the early and late services and then back for the 11:00am service.  Afterwards out for lunch (thanks for the coupon Allana), a brief stop at two Home Goods stores then home for the rest of the day.  As soon as The Good Wife was over we were off to bed so we could make the early arrival which brings us back to now.  All in all, a very good weekend with some much needed rest for both of us.

But back to the appointment.  Princess Leigh (Mark gave her that name, not me or Joe) was back in the exam room around 8:30am and we were out at the check out/appointment  desk by 8:45.  I dropped Joe off at the infusion center 5 minutes later and I was on my way to the office.  Joe met me for lunch in the afternoon and then accompanied the Durham Children’s Chorus Training Choir later this afternoon.  Tonight he says he is tired and has a bit of a scratchy throat.  He’s going to have to take some aspirin (along with all his other pills) and make it an early night.  Best thing is that this is the end of a cycle so he doesn’t have another treatment until November 7. YAY!

It Pays to Pay Attention to Dates

It pays to pay attention to dates especially when scheduling doctors appointments.  It seems every week or two we learn a new lesson.  This week it was to pay attention to the dates when scheduling appointments and paying for them online ahead of time.  We arrived for Joe's 7:30am appointment at Duke at 7:15am.  Joe went on to the clinic while I veered off to the food court for his large lemonade and my coffee.  Upon joining him at the clinic, he told me that apparently there was some mix up and they did not have him scheduled for an appointment at all.  No doctors appointment, no lab work, no chemo. Oh great!  But before I freaked out, Joe said they were working on trying to figure out the mistake and get him scheduled.  Before too long, about 20 mins, Adam the miracle worker at check-in/check-out, came over with a buzzer for Joe and told him that all 3 appointments were set up. Another 15 minutes and his blood had been drawn and sent off to the lab and about 10 minutes after that we were in an exam room where the nurse greeted us a few minutes later.  After that Joe was off to the chemo infusion center and I was off to work.  This all done by 8:55am.  By 10:40am Joe called me and he was already done with chemo and on his way home. Those of you that are regular readers know that it's more than just rare for him to be done with everything before 11am.  One might say it practically never happens.  Ok, I'll say it, IT NEVER HAPPENS!  So what is the moral, don't make appointments and just show up?  Dare we?  I say go for it, but I don't think I've quite convinced Joe to get on board.  But someone explain it to me.  Have an appointment, out around noon or after.  No appointment and out before 11am.  I know, there is no explanation.  I'm just glad that today didn't end up a disaster with Joe having to spend a long, unnecessary amount of time there.  As it turns out it was just a clerical error that we didn't catch, not even when I checked him in online Sunday night.  I just went to the next appointment on the list and checked him in, not noticing that the date was the 24th, not the 17th.  Oh well, except for a few minutes spent wondering what would happen, no harm, no foul.

The rest of the day has been a good one for Joe. He went to Costco (a favorite of his) came and met me for lunch, followed by a trip to Trader Joe's (another one of his favorites) , and then his regular Monday rehearsal as accompanist with the training choir for the Durham Childrens Chorus.  He has been enjoying watching and listening to the young kids.  Prior to leaving for the rehearsal he pulled out the old bread maker and started some Spice Apple bread baking.  You would not believe how good the house smelled when I got home.  Mouth watering!!!!   

Joe is home now from his rehearsal and dinner will be ready soon.  After dinner we will settle down to watch some TV and then off to bed early and hopefully Joe won't have too difficult of a night as has become more the norm on chemo nights.  On the up side of his not being able to sleep well on Monday nights, I've often come down on Tuesday morning to see the kitchen and family room VERY clean!  (I try to look on the bright side - - glass half full rather than half empty)

As always, we want to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers and this week I would like to ask everyone to also please remember Mary & Bob Anderson from PGUMC.  Mary had surgery last Thursday at UNC.  We went and visited her on Sunday and although she looked and sounded great, please include her and Bob in your prayers and that she is out of the hospital and home soon.  She is more concerned about Bob while she is in the hospital than she is about herself.  I hope they are both back at church very soon as I miss talking with both of them as they are 2 of my favorite people.

So Sorry for the Delay

I do apologize for the delay in reporting in on Joe's Monday doctor and Chemo appointments at Duke. There were a couple of snags that day starting with the express self check in system. Joe scanned his barcode in around 7:15 for his 7:30 a.m. appointment. However, by 8:00 a.m. they still had not come and given him his buzzer so he went up to the desk and checked and of course they did not show him as checking in. They went ahead and gave him his buzzer and it wasn't long before it went off and he had his blood drawn for his labs. Then we waited in the waiting room for about another 20 minutes before they called us back into an exam room. Mark his nurse came in first and then Leigh Howard the NP came in for the exam. This was also the last in a three series of appointments that were recorded. Joe had agreed to the study a couple of months ago. It is amazing how aware you can be when there is a little recorder sitting there on the desk. I tried to be on my best behavior but when Leigh commented that Joe hadn't had a chance to get a word in, I shut up! Well, not really, but I did stop talking for a couple of minutes and during that time Joe still didn't talk much. It was very much like our early appointments where Joe never spoke. But anyway, there were no problems, he is maintaining his weight and his labs were as normal or abnormal as usual so after leaving the exam room he was off to the Chemo infusion center on the 2nd floor and I was off to work. By the time I got to the office, he was texting me that he was in a chair in the treatment area already. So except for the "bump" at the beginning and me apparently talking too much all went smoothly. Two more treatments to go in this cycle and then a week off as usual.

What Can You Say When Nothing "Eventful" Happens

This week has been one of those "uneventful" weeks that I like so much.  No doctors appointments at Duke, Joe has felt good all week, no trauma or drama, just a nice ordinary week doing ordinary things, going about ordinary lives.   The only problem with that is that there is nothing to report on the Blog and when I don't post, I get in trouble with some folks for not updating them.  So here goes:
Monday- No doctor appointment so Joe got to sleep in later.  Lawn people came and aerated and overseeded the lawn.   Joe had rehearsal with the Durham County Childrens Chorus in the late afternoon so I watered the lawn when I got home.
Tuesday- Joe had staff meeting at Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church (PGUMC) followed by working on getting his music ready for Sunday.  A couple of piano students in the afternoon, watering the lawn and TGMC practice Tuesday night.
Wednesday- A piano student, back at PGUMC working on his Sunday music, lunch with friends followed by watering the lawn and rehearsal that night with the choir.
Thursday- A series of complaining phone calls to me over his defective laptop, watering the lawn, a couple of piano students and then Disciple Bible Study at PGUMC Thursday night.
Friday- (today) Hopefully he has watered the lawn, then a piano student this afternoon and then finally a night at home.

Tomorrow, Joe will take Dolly over to PGUMC for the Blessing of the Animals while I get my flu shot.  After that we are off to Hope Mills to the Holland Family Reunion.  First one in many many years so hopefully there will be a decent turn out.  As long as the food is good and I know/recognize a few people, then we should be ok.

But see, nothing to report of any importance. Not that I am complaining, but I have to post something to keep others from complaining.

Thank you to everyone for their continued prayers and good thoughts for Joe.  We are both extremely appreciative.

It's Been a Good Saturday

It's been quite a productive day.  Lawn mowed and edged and Joe got a lot of shows on the DVR watched so we should be good for next week with no worries of it filling up and loosing shows (we were over 75% full before the day started).  Joe has spent most of the day lounging or laying around so he shouldn't be complaining this weekend about not getting enough rest.  Also, with no chemo this week, his sleep schedule should be more consistent.  All in all, it's been a good Saturday, together.