Day 107, Year 7: Work Day
Date: Thursday, February 23, 2012
Weather: Mostly Sunny Day with Temps in the Low 50’s F
Location: Brewer Fiddler’s Cove Marina, N Falmouth, MA
Yesterday and today were relatively warm and breezy. The forecast tells us
that the daytime temps are going to settle into the 40’s for the next ten
days or so and the nighttime temps will be above freezing. If it is sunny,
then we will certainly be plenty warm on Windbird during the day without the
help of the heaters, but we will certainly have to keep the heaters going at
night. A main goal right now is to keep Mark warm in order to minimize the
side effects of the drug Oxaliplatin. Mark had a “cold” experience today
when he reached into the freezer to get out a pot of soup stock. The cold
pot jolted his fingertips so that he decided to nix the idea of soup for
lunch and have a peanut butter sandwich. Mark is not used to limitations
and the fact that he has not been allowed to lift more than 10 pounds since
his surgery in early January does not make him happy. Add to that the fact
that while undergoing chemotherapy he can’t allow himself to touch anything
cold, eat or drink anything cold, or use cold water to wash his hands and
you have another limitation that he doesn’t care for. The cold sensitivity
caused by the drug Oxaliplatin is a tough one. He will be especially
sensitive for the first five days following each chemo session and he has
now learned that he has to wear winter gloves anytime he gets into the
refrigerator or freezer and he has to run the water until it is warm before
washing his hands or washing dishes. We have to keep water sitting out at
room temperature to fill his water glass and who knows what other
adjustments we will have to make. I left early this morning to go shopping
and didn’t get home until after 7 pm tonight and I could see that Mark had
let these little inconveniences get to him. I guess he deserves to be a
little grumpy once in a while, but I can definitely see that it is easier to
be grumpy when you are alone than when you are with other people. He stayed
home today because he had a lot of calls to make for his consulting job and
the visiting nurse was coming in the afternoon to “unhook” him from all the
paraphernalia. He did have a successful work day and the nurse did come and
he is now a free man until March 5 when he has his next chemo session. And
this did make him a happy man.
I went into town early to go to the library and to do a little downtown
shopping. I had hoped to also get to the grocery store, but I ran out of
time and had to go get the boys. I did the food shopping in the evening
after leaving Heather and Jed’s, but that meant I didn’t get home until
after 7 pm. It was a long day, filled with way too much shopping, but once
in a while it just has to be done. Tomorrow Mark and I will both go get the
boys and after their naps, we will head back to Woods Hole for Bruce
Woodin’s retirement party. Bruce has worked at Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institute (WHOI) for his entire career. Jed has worked with Bruce since
arriving in Woods Hole in the late 1990’s and Heather worked with him until
she switched from scientist to journalist reporting on science after Sam’s
birth. And Mark and I have become good friends with Bruce and his wife
Jane. So we are looking forward to a festive retirement party at WHOI
tomorrow afternoon.
