A week in the life

It's hard to know where to begin. So I'll begin with last Monday. iMac and his friend Z were the Masters of ceremonies at the Boyscouts Court of Honor. iMac earned his Life Scout rank. Tuesday was fairly low key. Wednesday brought intensity. My first week administering allergy shots at the new job and my first patient to have anaphylaxis at the new job. Having worked in an allergy clinic setting 10 years ago it was not entirely unexpected. I just didn't expect it the first week. I got off work late. MK picked up the kids for me since MM was at Moffitt getting CT scans and and MRI. The incoming text from MM at 5:30, stated simply " call me." Unfortunately his "call me" texts are either a BIG issue or an irrelevant one. I knew this one would be big. First the good news the first three brain tumors are gone. Then the bad news, 4 new brain tumors in multiple lobes of the brain. It doesn't matter that I expected this news . I am stunned nonetheless. The clock is speeding up again and I am not ready. Wednesday night MK drops the kids off. I am waiting for their questions. The questions never come. I am relieved. I don't have to tell them yet. They know already, just as I did. Wednesday night I dream of Melanoma Man standing up from his desk, taking a step toward me and falling. I wake up with a broken heart. Thursday MM returns in time to pick up iMac and Butter from school. Still they don't ask. MM and I sit on the sofa trying to decide when to tell them. MM says Sunday night. I say Saturday so they have time at home with both of us before they have to go back out into the world and be brave. After dinner Saturday night at the island in the kitchen I raise the topic of MM's scans. MM takes the cue and provides the details. Butter gets up from the island and gets tissues first for his big brother, then for his father, and last for himself. We sit in silence for a moment with our tissues and our tears.

Today MM is back in Tampa having his 1mm MRI and having his new radiation mask made. Next week I will take him to Moffitt for what will be his last stereotactic radiation brain "surgery." His oncologist is changing his drug regimen in the hopes that the new drug will cross the blood-brain barrier. I will be at work trying to make a good impression, and missing my "advisory committee" from my last job. The advisory committee kept me afloat. It's hard to swim without them.