Day and Night

At 1 a.m. I was trained to administer Brendan's IV antibiotics. (The medicine takes 30-45 minutes to drip into him.)   At 9 a.m. another nurse came to check to see if I needed any more help.  At 5 p.m. I did it all by myself.  One of Brendan's antibiotics is given every 6 hours.  The other, every 8 hours.  His sodium, 3 times a day.  I've had to create a list in order to keep track of what has been given and when.  And when his next dose is due.  I'm sure I should have been given one of the tracker sheets that the nurses use at the hospital.  

 This morning Brendan was excited to get up and about.  He moved from his bed to the other bedroom.  But he moved.  He played for awhile, but has been very tired.  (He says it was because he was kept awake at 1 a.m. with the nurse and me talking! But I'm sure he slept through most of that hour.)

 Shaun and I went on a date -- to the grocery store.  (The kids insist that we can't call it a date if we go to the grocery store.)  Anyway, Shaun and I got out today -- and we were together -- without kids.  I call that a date.  It was a short date.  We had to be home in time to give Brendan his next dose of antibiotics.

When we returned home, Brendan was asleep on the chair.  I wouldn't say we panicked, but we did check his temperature and we did wake him up to see if he was feeling alright.  I think that's the life of parents of cancer kids.  Always just a little (or a lot) jumpy.  But his temperature was below 100.

 Tonight Susan came to visit.  She brought a couple of wigs for Brendan -- just in case he loses his hair.  We had some fun with the wigs.

Keeping my alarm set is getting to be a full time job.  Finding sleep in between all of the doses of medicine is making me appreciate the nurses at the hospital -- especially when they creep in quietly in the dark so that neither Brendan or I wake up.   ICS nurses are that good!   I guess coming home has it's price!