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Purpose and passion

from the French by Design blog

Bob's voice: Mewlings from Savoy

One month post stem cell transplantation!

 

The “Wizard of Oz” used an interesting cinematographic technique by commencing and ending with the mundane scenes from Kansas in black-and-white, whereas the fantastic middle portion utilized brilliant and sharply contrasting colored scenes. My amazing adventure into and through the valley of the shadow of death was colored in just the opposite manner. Those portions of my treatment prior and subsequent to the transplantation were vividly colorized, whereas the hospitalization was as bleak as the setting of Babette’s Feast or southern Sweden as filmed in the Wallander series. The anticipation of the transplant was as classical an example of an approach-avoidance conflict as marriage. Once the hemlock was administered, there could be no turning back. But my engraftment was swift and dramatic, allowing me to be discharged about 5 days earlier than most other patients. I rested for several days in the hotel in St. Louis before our daughters flew in from Burlington and Las Vegas. We were rewarded with spectacular weather which we enjoyed during afternoons in the botanical gardens and the world famous zoo and at sidewalk cafes on “The Hill,” the Italian section of St. Louis, and throughout the Central West End District adjacent to the hospital and our hotel. I forgot to buy a baseball cap and so my newly bald head was sunburned. Ceiling lights reflected on my reddened scalp giving my short gray hairs an eerie pink cast, making me think of myself as an Easter chickee peep. My grandson, Noah, who is a freshman at Washington University in St Louis, gave me a Wash U cap which I both needed and wanted.

 

The wonderful world of bright colors resumed upon discharge from the hospital to the hotel. I had feared that the chemotherapy had killed my taste buds until I had my first wonderful meal with pasta and butterflied shrimp on the Hill, al fresco, toasting in the afternoon sun. The bland hospital food had nearly bored my taste buds to death, but they had not died. Meals thereafter became the highlight of my days and evenings. The drive back to Savoy included the plethora of colors from the autumn leaves and the ripening crops. I had safely navigated the most treacherous part of my cancer journey, with the assistance of many prayers and kind thoughts from so many caring friends.

 

But now the colors are different, not as vibrant as before. I realize that I have been changed by this experience. I look at life a little more seriously now and am less free with my rapier wit and invaluable opinions about everything.

Did you know?

We're home and resting - Day +25

I'm doing laundry in our own machines and watching the college football games on our big screen TV. Life is good.

We drove to Savoy on the 16th and I was so tired, physically and emotionally, that I missed our exit. I didn't really need those additional miles to the airport. Ah, but how good it was to finally be home. Bob collapsed into bed, and after I unpacked the car, so did I. Heaven. 

I've been running needed errands while Bob pays the bills. When we're tired, we stop and catch up on our HBO and Showtime series. Little Snickers, Zoe's best friend, who is acting as nurse and grief counselor, has visited two days, and so we get outside to walk her and enjoy the cooler temperatures and falling leaves. We're getting back into a few routines.

Truly, there is no place like home.

Great News - Day +21

It was back across the bridge and into the medical complex again. Bob had a blood draw, and we met with his physician 45 minutes later. It was all good news. The Keebler elves are still in overdrive, and Bob was told that it was safe for him to return to Savoy. Packing and jumping for joy! Oh, to be in our own bed...

It's a family affair - Day +16 to Day +20

Bethany arrived in St. Louis from Vermont on Wednesday the 9th (day +16), and the three of us caught up over an Italian dinner at Anthonino's. The next day we ambled through the Missouri Botanical Garden. The fall colors still hadn't much appeared, but other signs of the changing season were evident. We found some fountains turned off and drained and Christmas lights being hung high in the trees.

Amy's plane from Las Vegas came in that evening. The sisters shared a corner room with two views, including one of the downtown and Arch. They also had the good treats - wine and Amy's homemade cookies - so we dubbed it "party central."

Friday afternoon (day +18) we expected the St. Louis Zoo to be quiet, but the school children must have had the day off because there were families everywhere. From the bales of hay, plenitude of pumpkins, and gigantic inflatable black cat, the fall and Halloween decorations were abundant. We strolled through the habitats of the "lions, tigers, and bears," the monkeys and apes, and the zebras and giraffes before Bob finally admitted that he was tired.

Yes, tired. Over these two days, he'd done an incredible amount of walking compared to his usual three laps around the hospital floor. He also hadn't brought a cap with him to St. Louis and refused to buy one or some sunscreen, so his hair-challenged head, having never seen the light of day, became a bit sunburned. The pink of his head made his white fuzz look pink too, and he called himself a "pink chickie PeeP." We decided to "dine in" that evening and ordered two small deep-dish pizzas to go from Pi Restaurant at 400 N. Euclid. One was the south side classico with mozzarella, sausage, mushrooms, green bell peppers, and onions, and the other was the kirkwood with mozzarella, Italian meatballs, red peppers, and basil. The pizza has won many awards and the company claims that it's President Obama's favorite, and it was good but not as good as Papa Del's in Champaign.

Amy had a wedding in Champaign that she wanted to attend on Saturday afternoon, and she and I drove north. While she enjoyed her friends, I was able to clean to make the house Bob-friendly (dust free). Sunday before we trekked back to St. Louis we visited with Dave and Kathy to wish them a happy 17th anniversary, and stopped by Kent and Lana's to give our birthday wishes to Kent.

Meanwhile, Bethany got to see Noah start in the Washington University varsity soccer game. Bob and she were able to share time and meals with Noah over the weekend. And, Noah gifted Papa Bob with a Wash U cap that Bob badly needed and loves.

Bethany flew back home Sunday afternoon, and Amy left a few hours later. Then Bob fell into bed. He slept for twelve hours, was up for less than an hour, and then slept five more hours. Yes, he admitted he was tired but said it was all such fun that he wouldn't have changed a thing.