Life After Windbird, Day 4: Facing Reality
Date: Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Weather: A Little Cooler; High Temp in the 80’s F
Location: At Home in The Studio #8, Falmouth, MA
I spent my day with Sam, Jonah, and Ollie and this evening we said our farewells to the Speigels. The three Goldpebbles really bonded with Jim and Teresa’s three, Zachary, Benjamin, and Rose.
Despite the difference in ages, or maybe because of it, they really hit it off. So this evening at a the end of long day for everyone, the wee ones and the teen ones, played games on the lawn here while the adults got to visit a bit. It was just so wonderful to see Jim and Teresa.
But this is where the ‘facing reality’ part comes in. It became evident to me tonight that Mark is really struggling to hang in there. Just three weeks ago Mark was able to walk two miles by himself with no problem. But in the last three weeks, his energy level has taken a drastic dip and in the absence of any kind of treatment, his cancer has become extremely aggressive. Every day I keep thinking things are going to improve, but tonight I realize that we just have to stop everything and focus totally on Mark. He has become very unsteady on his feet in the past few days and is really struggling with pain. So unless a miracle happens, we won’t be traveling to Myrtle Beach or anywhere else next week. Mark will get the first infusion of the new treatment on Friday of this week and then we need to focus on doing everything we can to help the Keytruda boost his immune system. Then the waiting happens. We just have to wait and see what happens. I knew today when Mark had to decline an invitation to go sailing with friends Jane and Bruce Woodin tomorrow that he is really not feeling good. But while waiting for the Speigels to arrive this evening, he did have the energy tonight to walk down on the dock with Heather, Jed, and boys to take a look at a beautiful little sailboat. It is wonderful to live so close to the water and to be able to walk the docks with Mark and just sit on the deck and watch the boats pass by.
