Ten-Finger Exercises

learning the next steps

It's been a varied week. I've been exceedingly tired, but having the twins here yesterday and today has been fun, even though I checked out and went to bed early last night. Tuesday night they all arrived from Spokane late, and they had not yet met Lola, who was delighted-- to put the best slant on it-- to see them. She raced around at top speed greeting everyone and showing off. That would have been okay, but Bill was having a grumpy day and had no patience for Lola even before the kids arrived. So he had a meltdown. He pulled me into the bedroom, closed the door (although he was talking so loud everyone heard anyway) and told me he was going to have a heart attack or a stroke right that very night if I couldn't get things settled down. No, that wasn't quite right. He didn't put any condition on it. He said we got the cat to help him keep his blood pressure down, and now it was so high he was going to...etc. I would have to get rid of the dog.

He said he'd have to go to a motel to sleep, so I started to get a bag to help him pack. I wanted him to take care of himself but wasn't going to throw the kids out. My daughter has enough on her mind, and this trip to the specialist in Portland was not going to be easy.

Seeing that I was agreeable, I guess, made him change his mind. He undressed and got into bed, and I left him alone. The dog was quiet by then and the kids were in bed. After a while he got up and came out saying he had just needed a time out. We all agreed that we all need one from time to time. My granddaughter asked me the next day if he'd really gone to a motel, because she had heard him yelling before she went to sleep.

Sophie, Jack and I took Lola to her first visit to the new dog park. We didn't stay long because almost all the dogs were much bigger, and Sophie got a little scared. One little black chihuahua was ill-tempered, and he was the only one that worried me. He had others stirred up. Lola was oblivious, running and chasing them all happily.

We dropped by the library, and Jack, who is not much of a reader, found a book he really liked. We checked it out, and Sophie said her friend has a copy of it and another by the same person. Jack liked it so much they had to take turns reading it, and he was reading while crossing the street to get in the car! After lunch we drove to the bookstore and bought them each one. Jack commented several times that he's never been this much "into" a book before. Fun to see that happen!

The specialist was concerned about my daughter's anemia, saying that the chemo she'd be taking would lower her blood count too. She'll have to go to a hematologist first before beginning the chemo, maybe even need a transfusion. The chemo is in pill form, to take for five days and then off for three weeks before starting again. It will make her fatigued and nauseous, he said, and she'll keep taking it until it quits working. A couple of years maybe. Instead of having an oncologist where she lives direct the treatment, as she'd expected, she'll have to make trips back to Portland every three months. That's about a seven hour drive for her.

Well, now we know what comes next.