Benchmarks

We enjoyed a rich Saturday and Sunday. Saturday was sunny and warm. We opened the front room windows and Sherry napped like a rounded cat in a sunbeam streaming through the window. She relished the pungent autumn aroma wafting in from our garden—lavender, damp leaves from red twig dogwood, the faint, sweet odor from the baskets of quince I picked, the satisfying smell of wet, fertile earth.

Sherry’s mobility appears to be improving day by day, little by little. The benchmark reached on Sunday was Sherry moving around our house using her walker without me spotting for her by holding her safety belt. This is a big step. Now I can go outside and do the things that our garden is crying to have done. The pond filters need cleaning, the fruit trees need pruning, the blackberry vines need to be cut back so they don’t collect enough snow to break the supports, the asparagus bed needs to be mulched… Before Sherry climbed over this pinnacle of independence, I could take one of our walkie talkies outside with me and Sherry could have one beside her to call me if she needed me. This worked great for tasks like thinning the green onions, spinach, and lettuce in the cold frames, but kept me from things that required more involvement such as climbing ladders—things that were less prone to accommodate interruption.

With my long time friend Roy Morris, we were able to get the mugho pines on the south side of our driveway pruned. Last winter they bent, laden with heavy snow, over the driveway making it difficult to get to the car. I had let them get too tall. They are shorter now and should bear the snow load with impunity. Plus, I got to learn about the many projects to which Roy is contributing his time and expertise.

Sherry and I both consumed delicious naps Sunday afternoon. Both of us were groggy after napping past the pause that refreshes stage. Still, it was a couple of hours well spent. The broken sleep precipitated by medication schedules seemed to have caught up with us. It was nice to have caught up with it.

Tomorrow the daily regime of radiation therapy begins the Monday through Friday drill. Tuesday and Thursday are OT and PT, and IVs on the chemo floor are on Wednesday. So, it’s begin again. We do so with high hopes for continued improvement. Shrinking, starving, disoriented tumors are our agenda. In the meantime our days, one at a time, are joyous and fulfilling.