Hard for even me to believe how well the week turned out. On Day 5 Melanoma Man and I hit the road for Tampa at 7 a.m. We thought traffic would be heavy in Orlando, figuring there would be lots of Independence Day travelers. It was just the opposite. Arrived at Moffitt with plenty of time to spare, so we got to hang out in the radiation waiting room for a bit with other members of the Cancer Tribe. The Stereotactic Radiation Surgery itself took about 40 minutes. It must have seemed interminable to MM since his head, neck and shoulders were in a tightly fitted mask which was then bolted to the table. I asked Dr. Rau to give him oxygen during the procedure and he obliged. Later Melanoma Man thanked me for the oxygen. He said it made all the difference. We stopped at Cracker Barrel on the way home. I ordered comfort food, 2 scrambled eggs and a biscuit. He teased me about my driving, but mostly read the Economist all the way home. It' s just really hard for him to give the reigns or the wheel to someone else, even me.
The next few days were so relaxing. Every morning Melanoma man would hand me his Jacques Pepin cookbook and ask me to place my order for that night's dinner. And he felt better than he has felt in almost a year, likely due to the combination of relief, the oral steroids he took post radiation, and the mandatory temporary holiday from his Vemurafenib during radiation week.
We watched movies every night: Moneyball, Dr. Zhivago, and The Quiet Man. During the day we read books, chatted, and shopped for ingredients for the evening meal. I did absolutely no housekeeping, giving myself permission to just be.
Wayne returned the children and cat on Monday evening. And still no side effects from radiation, fingers crossed.
Sounds lovely. XOXOXO
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