This picture is from Saturday when my brother Russ briefly dropped in on his way down from our Paso Robles house to his own in La Crescenta, bringing us more clothes and a this-and-a-that. (He's going back Wednesday for more housesitting.)He also brought Mr. B. a new watchcap that says PASO ROBLES and looks quite dashing on him, as you can see. DON'T I HAVE THE BEST BROTHER??
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Well, the tummy tube hole in Mr. B. has healed overnight, as predicted, and he was able to eat without leaking, as hoped. However, he did suffer some stinging and asked for the painkiller midday (Norco). That always affects his head/dizziness a bit, which affects his physical therapy effort - yet, he continued to walk 50 feet distances with Erin and me by his side for safety and do arm exercises with elastic bands.
He did so many leg exercises yesterday that the legs were a bit shaky today (Tuesday) as well. Understandable.
Calling Testosterone! Epiphany! We realized that before this, with aging and chemo taking its hormonal toll, Michael had not successfully built muscles at the gym until he'd gotten testosterone shots. We ran that concept by the fabulous Dr. Ross, and he's looking into getting Michael a patch for testosterone, so he can have more success at rebuilding his atrophied muscles.
Coumadin Too! Another epiphany! The fact that Mr. B. had been on Coumadin for blood thinning in the ICU, which was halted due to some test, got lost in Michael's voluminous medical records. Dr. Shapiro (here) had to call Dr. Shapiro (in Templeton) to affirm my affirmation that he'd been on it - and they started him on it him again, with a 5-day overlap with the other blood thinners until the Coumadin takes over. He'll only have to be on it for about six months, and Michael's relieved about it, because he expressed that he does fear another stroke.
The reason they prefer Coumadin to Locinapro & Lopressor is if they need to thicken his blood for clotting purposes, they can do so more quickly by using Vitamin K; with the other stuff, they have to wait 24 hours. (and Margaret, I did take the opportunity to ask Dr. Ross if he'd ever actually seen a vitamin, which you had once posed as a fascinating question. He stared at me blankly for a minute, then said, no, but there were special microscopes that could. Humph! Says he!)
Love & Marriage. Michael and I had a sweet afternoon, talking about our relationship and how this has brought us closer. He expressed unselfish concern for my health and well-being, urging me to take care of myself, leave earlier and sleep in a bit - although, he adorably added he would miss me terribly.
I'm actually taking myself to my old friend and chiropractor, Dr. Roger Knight, today in Oxnard, as my hips have gone out without me. Then I'm going to take my son, daughter-in-law & grandbaby out for Chinese food, all things I've longed for. But isn't he the best fella - worrying about me in all this?
Then Michael and I spoke of getting really, thoroughly & legally hitched when all this is over and we're back to our life. Not the walk-down-the-aisle kind of wedding, as that's not us. But the huge-party-with-a-ceremony-in-the-middle kind of wedding. We've actually got about four friends who can marry people, and may have to have them all take a shot, so no one's miffed!
More importantly, my darling said the most romantic and touching words to me about how much I mean to him and how this whole bizarre journey has solidified his belief that he wants to spend the rest of his life with me - and I say DITTO!! Mr. B. is the love of my life - and marriage is the 1950's happy ending in all the Cary Grant/Doris Day type movies I grew up on, so I'd like it, though I haven't pressed for it. Although, my best friend, Shelene is gleeful to the point of delirium, as she predicted it right from the beginning. To me, it's just a cherry on top of an already delightful banana split.
But, hey! Any excuse for a party!
DORIS AND CARY!
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