"Oh, Yeah!" she said drowsily....

we're in the waiting period after chemo and not much changes with my mom on a daily basis.  she ran a fever overnight and caused a little "extra" attention from the overnight resident and nurses.  with her immune system being what it is, they take her temperature quite frequently to make sure they notice the slightest sign of any infection.  they took a chest x-ray and continued with the IV anti-biotics.  by dawn she was feeling better.  she waited until 7:01am to call our house to talk to my dad. no worries, we were up.  (as my dad would say "we were up...we had to get up to answer the phone").  her temperature stayed close to normal all day and the chest x-ray didn't reveal any new issues.  just one of those things that happen during the process we're in (please don't tell my mother i ended a sentence with a preposition.....it's late).

today's main issue was a bloody nose (i know...eeeewww).  her platelets are very low. so once it starts, it's difficult to get it to stop.  she battled that most of the day until they gave her some more platelets.  they felt that would help it stop.

her throat is very sore so eating remains a little difficult.  swallowing is quite painful.  at one point she said that a root beer float would taste good.  so my dad ran to UDF and got a diet A&W and put it with some sugar-free ice cream they had in her unit.  she managed a few bites/drinks of that.  her (non-IV) diet now consists of mostly lemon ice, sugar free pudding and iced tea with an occasional boost.  

"Oh, Yeah!"

my mom says funny things when she has pain medication.  it makes us laugh a little (in a very respectful way, of course).  today she told me and greg that she just bought a new piano.  i asked her "what color"?  she said she didn't know.  i told her it was odd she would make such a major purchase and not even know what color it was.....

don't think that my mom is not fully lucid MOST of the time.  she is.  it's that short period right after she takes the pain medication that, even my dad would admit, makes us smile.  we're trying to smile more.  that has to help...right?

who knows what tomorrow brings?  what is that little quote that is going around now? "yesterday is history, tomorrow a mystery, today is a gift....that's why they call it the present" (or something).  i used to think that saying was just for coffee mugs and bookmarks.  not so surprisingly, i find myself appreciating the present more lately.

as always, thanks for the continued prayers, posts, cards and emails.  they mean a lot.

blessings,

tim