A Spike to be Celebrated!

Home was…good. And hard, per usual. Dad is doing fantastic, which you would think would be cause for celebration — and it is! He has been sleeping in his own bed next to mom instead of our living room hospital bed for weeks now. He isn’t in any pain or taking any pain medication. He’s eating really well. He is no longer hooked up to any tubes. He is standing up by himself…and even taking a few steps at a time with a walker. So while it is so wonderful to see him doing so well, it literally scares the shit out of me. You see, hospice has told us that this isn’t uncommon. Sometimes cancer patients (especially those who have been on treatment for years can have this burst of energy once the chemo leaves their system…and then they rapidly decline. So we are taking it day by day and enjoying this beautiful spike in quality of life for as long as we have it!

For the first time in months Dad was able to grill the steaks for Sandroni Steak Night (with a lot of supervision and many sitting breaks, but still!!!!). It was the best steak I’ve had in my life.

Oh! And another really cool thing! From time to time screech-owls will come and live in my parents’ backyard oasis. It truly is a tropical paradise back there so it’s no surprise that owls come and stay for a few weeks at a time. The kids got such a kick out of visiting Mr. Hootie 45345934 times a day. But seriously, how beautiful is that little guy?!  

Dad finally got an electric wheelchair from hospice and has been loving the extra freedom it gives him to move around. So we took a lot of walks and on Sunday he rolled up to church with the grandbabies taking turns riding in his lap along the way.