Day 8 of 10 - September14, 2010

Acupuncture was the first item on the agenda this morning. I dropped him off at the hospital, parked the car and went into the treatment area to wait. It was about a half hour session with K, who told Pete that he is not only an acupuncturist but also an optometrist.. Pete said that it was an interesting experience. When he laid down, the first thing K did was to press his finger on Pete's right hip joint and ask "do you have any pain here?" Pete said he jumped because it is the exact spot where he does have pain from a torn labrum, something that is unrelated to the cancer.

When Pete was finished and came into the hospital room I asked him how it went. He said it was strange because the pain, which was a sharp pain in the upper area of his scapula has subsided, but the achy dull pain a bit lower was still there. Right now it's about 5:30 and I just asked him how he's doing with the pain. He said that it seems that the relief from the sharp pain has continued and the dull, achy pain is still there but is much more tolerable.

B, the social worker, stopped by and told us that he had contacted Hope Lodge and they told him that at the moment they are full and have put us on the waiting list. As soon as there is an opening they'll let us know.

While Pete was having the acupuncture, D, his nurse stopped in to chat with me and asked if I'd like to sit down with one of the social workers and just talk about how I'm handling all of the stress. I figured it wouldn't hurt and shortly after Pete came into the room, one of the other social workers, D2, came in and introduced herself. We went to the small library/reading room down the hall and sat and talked. It was just pretty much background, what Pete's been through since first diagnosed, and how I'm "handling" everything. I told her that I'm doing okay, that I have a good support system, and that I've had plenty of practice being a caregiver. Pete and I are on the same page and that is "you play the hand you're dealt." It might suck, but there's not a thing you can do to change it, so you make the best of it.

When we were done with our chat, I went back to Pete and asked if he felt like tea or food. When he said yes, I walked over to Chelsea Market and made some purchases at several of the shops and brought back chicken noodle soup from a "soup" shop that was highly recommended by several of the nurses. Pete said it was excellent, though he didn't care much for the half-sandwich I brought back for him. We also had herbal tea.

Dr R and A had stopped in to check on him while I went to get the food. There was no blood return again today, but because his blood work has been consistently good, the doctor said they could pass on fighting to get blood today. The rest of the treatment period was uneventful.

Tomorrow is the last 4 hour day. Thursday will be 8 hours because he'll be getting his final Mesna infusion. We're planning on leaving the hotel and heading home at the end of that day. We're both looking forward to being back home, even if it's just for a few days.