An unwelcome surprise....again

My honey had been doing great - working in his shop, building beautiful Christmas gifts; oak serving trays, and oak hand mirrors with beveled glass.  On Friday, December 2, he sat again in the Cancer Center....for almost 5 hours .....getting his monthly Zometa and IVIG infusions. The Zometa to strengthen his bones and the IVIG to boost his immune system.

Just 3 weeks later, on a Wednesday, he felt great. The next day, he didn't feel so well and by Friday (a couple of days before Christmas)  in spite of the IVIG infusions to boost his immune system.....he had pneumonia, again.

We were in the Cancer Center and Dr. H. came into the waiting room to listen to his chest. He prescribed what I called "high-octane" antibiotics (2,500 mg. per day) and didn't think he needed to be in the hospital.

The kids weren't coming home this year, since the girls have been here several times to help when their dad has been in the hospital, so we've had a quiet Christmas (which is really what he needed).

I questioned why the IVIG would not have prevented this, and I was told if he had not had them, it might have been worse. He still doesn't feel good. His lungs hurt when he moves, or takes a deep breath, and his throat is sore .... but he isn't anywhere close to being as ill as he was in October, when he had to be helped from the bed to the bathroom.

Because the kids weren't coming home, I had made an "executive decision" not to put up the Christmas tree. It was very hard for me to do, alone, and Bob was unable to help.  I had searched, without success, for a table top Fiber Optic tree, and finally decided this house would decorate.....without a tree. After he got sick, and my mind began to have those thoughts that one should never have, I decided that I needed to put up our tree. Mind you, this was just 2 nights before Christmas.....but in days of old, trees were put up and decorated on Christmas Eve!

So, on Friday night, after my honey went to bed.....out to the storage room I went (ignoring the fact that the Bobcat, or Panther, of Cohay Creek might be lurking).  I told a friend, "I'm sure God has His hands full just trying to "redirect" my decisions". First, I couldn't get the storage room door completely open, and second there was no light. Needless to say, with all the obstacles there was no way the tree would get from the storage room to the living room. In the end, I think I was happy that God, or fate, had intervened.

As it turned out, we didn't need a tree. It was a quiet, peaceful Christmas Day at our house. And, I continue to be thankful for each day....and hope there will be many more.....days.....and Christmases.