Saturday my Dad and brother finished most of the ramp. There's still a little 3 or so inch drop at the bottom, the last section of railing and the non-skid surface that needs to be finished, but I'm not worried about it. It's been SO rainy and windy and snowy...ew It's really really nice and we're very happy with it. I pushed my brother up and down it in the wheelchair (HA!) to test it out, he probably outweighs David by about 50 or 60 lbs at this point so we figured if I can maneuver Jaeger I could handle Dave in the chair no problem. Of course it's been pouring rain (and snow) since then so it's not quite done but the 3 inch drop is much easier and safer than the two step drop off. Now if the weather would get nicer Dave could go outside!
Monday was my Nana's 85th birthday. She got a little cake and brought it over when Owen got home from school and we had a piece of cake with her. Who can say no to afternoon cake?! This coming weekend family is coming down for a birthday dinner at my Nana's house and they're going to snag Owen to go over there as well then people will either filter over for a visit or if David is up for it we'll just invite everyone over for dessert. Since he has chemo tomorrow and it's the first time he's getting two doses at two week intervals we're not sure how he'll respond so we're playing it by ear. We like having visitors even though our house isn't big but Dave gets tired after a while. It's good to push his limits a little without overdoing it. It's a fine line.
Last thursday for Owen's band concert he got dressed up in some pin stripe pants, shiny black (uncomfortable) shoes, white shirt and tie with a suit jacket we got for Dave at goodwill about 17 years ago for a Frankenstein halloween costume. 80s style with big shoulder pads and everything! O decided that he would wear it to school on monday and then for some reason he wore it again today. It's cute but if he wants to dress up like that I'd be happy to get him actual dress up clothes that fit him rather than the oversized, old fashioned suit jacket. It's not quite retro yet! I don't want to discourage his desire to look sharp. O also finished The Man in the Iron Mask. Finally! He has an orthodontist appointment this afternoon. Hopefully his mouth doesn't get too sore. It's nice to have straight teeth but getting there isn't as fun.
Yesterday the occupational therapist came out to visit. She said David is her first hospice patient, I guess this is pretty unusual. She said that she feels like she wouldn't be doing her job if she gave him a bunch of exercises to do that would tire him out and that's probably what physical therapy would do so we made a good choice to not go with PT. Instead of giving him specific exercises she said she wants him to do activities that tax his abilities but that also enrich his time/experience. Maybe try playing a computer game with Owen that doesn't require speed but that encourages movements he knew how to do well (type and mouse use) and that shouldn't be hard for him to relearn. Or things like reading because he has to hold the book and turn pages so he practices fine motor skills too. That way if he gets tired it's because he's been doing something he enjoys and not extraneous exercise.
Yesterday was busy. After the OT was here I had to go to a dr's appointment (just a checkup). I was trying to clean up and get stuff done and I hadn't slept well the night before. Rose swooped in and saved the day. She finished tidying up for me and stayed here while I was gone so I didn't have to worry about Dave being alone. My appointment lasted FOREVER because my dr didn't know what was going on at home so she asked me a million questions. My blood pressure was high, can't imagine why. LOL She did take a look at some test results I got from a life insurance physical I had a few months ago and she was impressed with the results. All my levels are good, cholesterol is good and all that too so that eased my mind a bit. She told me if I need anything like sleeping pills to give her a call. sometimes I wish I could take her up on that but I have to be able to wake up in the middle of the night if needed so the most I've done is valerian root. I don't always have insomnia and honestly I've always battled with insomnia in some regard but last night it took me a while to fall asleep and then this morning I've gotten up to get things done then gone right back to sleep for little cat naps. Yay cat naps!
Last night David's parents and sister, brother-in-law and kids from AZ came to town for a visit. They stayed for a little while last night and will be back this afternoon. It's good to visit with them and it's good for David to see his family. Today after Owen's ortho appointment I think I'm going to swing by and bring his niece over too. Family night!
Olive has moved her spot of choice from laying by Dave's legs up to laying ON his pillow.. like a hat. Cat hat. It's really adorable. She's the sweetest little thing. It actually makes me a little nervous when she hovers over him like that because they say cats have a sense about things but by all accounts he's as healthy as someone can be when they have an illness like this.
Tomorrow his appointment is at 2:30 but we'll get picked up at 1:00 because the transport bus isn't available later which means we'll end up at his appointment an hour early. We decided to make a date of it and go to the hospital cafeteria and have a late lunch. A DATE! YAY! Luckily the hospital is gorgeous with a restaurant atmosphere in the cafeteria and the dr's office is in the building adjacent to the hospital so it's not far. Also we're going to ask the dr about scaling back on the steroids and when we can expect that he'll get another MRI. We're not sure if they will even do another one unless he starts getting worse again but it never hurts to ask.
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