Parole Hearing

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Monday, February 17th.

Monday's news was good with blood levels all starting to rise dramatically.  With Wednesday set as my release date, I was having a hard time sleeping through the night.  I spent the early morning hours emailing and reading.  My Dad & step mom came back to Orlando for lunch after visiting her parents near Tampa over the weekend.  Both sisters and my brother-in-law came back as well, Jennifer (AJ) had made a cake as it was my step mom's birthday.  We had lunch outside by the lake complete with cake for desert.  Happy Birthday Ruth!

With the change in mood and direction for me, besides thinking about the future again, I've been doing a lot of thinking about other people starting with my family and my Dad.  My father was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease a few years ago and I realized that I had not really engaged fully with what was going on.  In talking with my siblings, it turns out that most of them seemed short on information as well.  So during one of my wakeful nights I started researching online.  I found a book and purchased a copy for each one of our family members (bit of a trick shipping a single order to six different location in Amazon, but it worked), and discovered the National Parkinson's Foundation.  I was able to share all that information with my Dad and sisters as we sat together after lunch. It was great to have an open family conversation about what was going on and to let my Dad know that we are all there for him.  For me, it felt great to give back a little.

In the late afternoon, the Oncologist arrived and surprised me with the news that my blood levels were looking good enough that I could go home tomorrow!  That threw things into a swirl as we already had a plan for Wednesday.  Now Joanne had to scramble to reschedule some patients and I started thinking about all the questions I had for discharge.  Time to make a list.  Good hospital tip here - if you must spend a lot of time in a hospital, get a notebook and pen and keep it next to you.  There are always questions you think about, but frequently forget when the doctors pop into the room.  Good to write them down and good to take notes when they're giving you instructions.  I was also able to convince the Oncologist to take me off the IV!  Finally, I was unhooked from the stand.  It was a big moment.  The PICC line and leads still dangled out of my arm as they would have to draw blood one more time tonight, but I was 'free.'

My sister, Jennifer, brother-in-law, and mom returned for what was now a celebration dinner.  She made a great chicken parmesan with pasta dish and I still had a nice piece of chocolate cake left over from lunch.  My mom took off for home and we got to spend some quality time hashing through some family issues.  Communication has not been my family's strong suit over the years.  But due to the time we were able to spend together, and due to my own desire to remove stress around my life to assist with healing, we all started having what I believe are some pretty productive conversations.  Not that I recommend getting cancer as a way to solve old family issues, but I'm happy that we're enjoying additional benefits as a group.

Not sure I'm going to get much sleep tonight.